Popcorn | Joe Brown’s Caramel Corn

1053 Lloyd Center, Portland, OR 97232

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Joe Brown’s Carmel Corn™ is committed to offering the ultimate Hand Made Carmel Corn, Kettle Corn, Oregon Style, White and Yellow Cheese Corn experience to our customers.

The legend of Joe Brown’s Carmel Corn™ began in 1932. George Brown and his son Joe founded Joe Brown’s Carmel Corn. Their first retail store was located in downtown Portland, Oregon next to the old United Artist Theater on Washington Street. In the mid 1930’s two other locations sprung up on SW Broadway Street near the Paramount Theater, and on Sandy Boulevard near the Hollywood Theater.

It was at the Hollywood location where Betty Brown, sister of Joe Brown, would help run the store after classes at Grant High School. When Betty started in 1937 wages were $0.20 cents per hour and the daily sales for the store would average between $6.00 and $20.00! Through the mid 1930’s and early 1940’s George Brown also oversaw the operations of a Seaside, Oregon location, where he would visit by riding the train on the weekends and in the summers. During the same period a concession space was maintained at the Multnomah Kennel Club in Gresham, Oregon.

Due to economic difficulties created by World War II, Joe Brown’s Carmel Corn™ was forced to close all of its operations in the mid 1940’s However, the store and it’s legend was revived in 1960 when the Lloyd Center shopping mall in Portland, Oregon was built. The former Betty Brown and her husband opened the new Joe Brown’s Carmel Corn store in what was then, the largest outdoor mall in the United States.

The store continues to thrive in the same location serving more than 300,000 customers per year! In 1999 a wholesale operation was created to sell to retailers. Since, you can find Joe Brown’s Carmel Corn and other flavored popcorn in stores like New Seasons and WholeFoods. The Tradition continues under the new ownership, Ferguson Consulting LLC which is headed by Entrepreneur, David L Ferguson Jr.