A Portland couple provides an intimate physical platform for artists working in an array of mediums with Tender Loving Empire
Text by Anna Harmon
Images by Ashton Morgan
When Brianne and Jared Mees decided to leave Los Angeles more than 10 years ago, they packed up everything they had and went on a road trip around the Western United States. On the way, they considered their permanent destination: What about Boulder? Or Seattle? In the end, the couple chose Portland, because it was pretty and charming, but also because it felt creative. According to Brianne, that feeling was embodied in the small businesses thriving throughout the city. Not long after arriving, the couple added to these ranks Tender Loving Empire, a boutique and record label powered by the creative community they found in their new home.
“It was always about supporting artists of every kind,” says Brianne Mees, who started Tender Loving Empire with her husband, Jared, in 2007.
Brianne is a maker and Jared is a musician, so it makes sense that as they settled into Portland, they quickly found friends making things the couple loved. However, Brianne realized that instead of doing anything with their creations, the friends were just storing them away. “I was like, get it out from under your beds, out of your closets, and share it with people!” she says. To give them access to an adoring public, Brianne and Jared launched Tender Loving Empire. The first project the two undertook was releasing an album for Jared under their new label, for which they learned how to silkscreen album covers. Soon after, in 2007, they opened their first Tender Loving Empire boutique, outfitted with homemade furniture and Goodwill finds, and stocked with items made by their friends.
“We weren’t doing it well,” Brianne says of that first album, “we were just doing it for fun.” But the couple quickly overcame any learning curve. Today, they have more than 70 albums on the label and national distribution. They don’t stick to a genre but rather gravitate to Portland talent in all its forms of expression, from Latin-infused pop music by Y La Bamba to poetry by Women’s World Poetry Slam winner Andrea Gibson.
At any of Tender Loving Empire’s four boutique locations across the city, customers can listen to these records and others by local artists and buy them in tape, CD, or vinyl form. “We wanted to make a physical place where you could walk in and experience it,” Brianne says. Outside of the music section, shoppers peruse items like jewelry, clothing, stationary, and home goods—more than 80 percent of which are locally made and all of which are carefully crafted in the United States.
When Brianne thinks about the creative empire they have supported in a tender and loving way—hence the name—she is awed. “Sometimes I’m like, ‘I did this,’” she says. “And sometimes I’m like, ‘I’m just along for the ride.’”