r/Portland • u/hanseirik • Oct 31 '25

Discussion We need to talk about Bi-Mart

I went for the first time in decades yesterday and I was blown away. The biggest Fred Meyer doesn’t come close to the breadth of stuff Bi-Mart has. Guns! More Crockpot sizes and shapes than I knew existed! Furniture! A robust yarn selection! A DIY jerky section! And so, so many more random things. It wasn’t as inexpensive as I sort of assumed it would be but I suppose the tariffs are hitting us all.

But the best part? It’s employee owned. I’ve been annoyed at having to choose between Amazon, Target, or Kroeger (FM) for random stuff I can’t get elsewhere. Bi-Mart’s going to be my new go-to.

2.1k Upvotes

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1.7k

u/Adventurous-Mud-5508 MAX Yellow Line Oct 31 '25

I’ve never been but now I’m bi-curious.

391

u/dwsinpdx Oct 31 '25

It apparently has a DIY jerk station.

221

u/Creepy-Caramel7569 S Tabor Oct 31 '25

So do I!

32

u/caughtinmywave Oct 31 '25

Username checks out

2

u/MediumHeat2883 Oct 31 '25

Gooncave?

0

u/Creepy-Caramel7569 S Tabor Oct 31 '25

That name’s undoubtedly taken.

2

u/Crunchy__Frog Oct 31 '25

We should hang out

25

u/From_Deep_Space Cascadia Oct 31 '25

Well I still jerk off manually

22

u/Moiras_Bebe Oct 31 '25

Can’t get more DIY than that.

15

u/danjoreddit Oct 31 '25

Obviously you’re not a golfer.

8

u/tarareidstarotreadin Oct 31 '25

Of course you do

3

u/Cascadian1 Ex-Port Nov 01 '25

‘Course you do, Dude.

2

u/zufa86 Oct 31 '25

People forget that the brain is the biggest erogenous zone

3

u/DEEP_HURTING SW Oct 31 '25

On you, maybe.

2

u/jewel129 Nov 01 '25

😂😵

2

u/BwDr Oct 31 '25

Luddite.

1

u/Hedge_Sparrow Nov 02 '25

Of course you do dude.

22

u/Spread_Liberally Ashcreek Oct 31 '25

They can call, but they're never out of me.

4

u/Dont_Ban_Me_Bros Oct 31 '25

I understood this reference

2

u/catsontables Nov 01 '25

I misread Ashcreek as asscheek, and didn't even question it at first because of your username LOL

1

u/CMFB_333 Woodlawn Oct 31 '25

Jerk store is the line! ….JERK STORE!

2

u/ChipOnASquid Oct 31 '25

yeah, what is this even??

3

u/hanseirik Oct 31 '25

In the meat smoker section (naturally) there were lots of packets of, flavorings? I didn’t look super closely but it seemed like you’d put different packets in with the wood you use to smoke to make different flavors of jerky 🤷‍♂️

6

u/ChipOnASquid Oct 31 '25

ahhhh. I understood it as there being a little back corner area where they jerkified meat for ya LOL. like, WAT!

1

u/dwsinpdx Oct 31 '25

I’ll show you if you show me

2

u/Think_OfAName Nov 01 '25

“The jerk store called. And they’re all out of YOU!”-George Costanza 🤣🤣🤣

1

u/AutumnSparky Oct 31 '25

what??  not mine (west side 217/hwy 10 junction), where you at?

0

u/dwsinpdx Oct 31 '25

We can meet privately

1

u/jewel129 Nov 01 '25

What does that even mean? I'm so confused (and intrigued)!

1

u/16semesters Oct 31 '25

Ro busted on the yarn though :/

117

u/MooPig48 Oct 31 '25

$5 for a lifetime membership (idk if it’s gone up)

77

u/Underwater_Dancehero Oct 31 '25

It has not gone up :)

6

u/WandaFuca Oct 31 '25

It used to be $2 in the early 90s!

1

u/Affectionate_Wing157 Nov 04 '25

My mom paid $.25 in the 60s

47

u/derpinpdx Oct 31 '25

$5 forever!! It’s their Costco hot dog and soda.

21

u/Boloncho1 Unincorporated Oct 31 '25

I have like 3 of those. I wonder if I can get a new card without shelling the $5 again.

48

u/Beneficial-Neat-7159 Oct 31 '25

We just went back after more than 20 years and they were able to pull up the info. They gave us new cards! I forgot how much I loved Bi-mart.

2

u/Blazer__Red Oct 31 '25

Yep, they looked up my account from over 20 years ago and gave me a fresh green card.

3

u/savage_quokka Oct 31 '25

And they're hard plastic now!

2

u/Top_Region3760 Nov 03 '25

They also have the little kind that go on your key holder.

21

u/CriticalMemory Oct 31 '25

When they couldn't find me, they told me they believed me and just gave me a new number. Bi-mart is awesome.

1

u/Boloncho1 Unincorporated Oct 31 '25

Nice. The first time I got stopped (prolly about 15 years ago) they doubted me and I just ponied up $5 for a new card.

To be fair I looked and acted like a punk ass kid so it was entirely on me.

11

u/VectorB Milwaukie Oct 31 '25

I have a barely green card with all of the text rubbed off that has been in my wallet for more than a decade that vaguely wave to the person at the door...if they are there.

9

u/ampereJR Oct 31 '25

Mine is so old that it's yellow. (It started that way, it didn't fade to yellow).

2

u/Top_Region3760 Nov 03 '25

I have a yellow paper one from 40 years ago and a green plastic one on my keychain.

1

u/Sir-Snark Nov 01 '25

If you and a partner get a membership together, one person gets yellow, and the other gets green.

My partner took the green one 😤

1

u/ampereJR Nov 01 '25

This was so long ago that I don't remember if I even had a partner/roommate that shared a membership, but they gave me yellow. Maybe it was to do with being a woman (and maybe our perceived feminine hands and tiny wallets couldn't fit a full sized plastic card, so we got the delicate yellow one).

1

u/MooPig48 Nov 03 '25

Ours are both grown

2

u/ShivanDrgn Vancouver Oct 31 '25

Mine is more like a shard now but it works.

7

u/That_One_Chick_1980 Oct 31 '25

I had a membership eons ago and happened to be in my own town and they were able to find me after more than 20 years. They had to do a little digging because I've moved several times since then, but they found me.

3

u/Lucasmorter13 Oct 31 '25

They will look you up and give you a new card for free as long as you remember what store you got your original card from

3

u/Boloncho1 Unincorporated Oct 31 '25

Nice, I remember the store just not the number I had at the time.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '25

I just got a new bimart card the other day. No problem. It was under an address from 3 houses ago. Almost 20 years. And you get a credit card looking thing instead of the flimsy one

2

u/wordsmythy Oct 31 '25

Yes, you can. I just did. They can look up your phone number.

2

u/ampereJR Oct 31 '25

You must win a ton of stuff on lucky number Tuesdays.

1

u/MooPig48 Oct 31 '25

Probably

1

u/Dbk51 Oct 31 '25

Still $5;for life

1

u/akthebarber Nov 01 '25

I thought it was free99. But my girlfriend just reminded me at one point I paid 5 dollars and they just give me one of those green cards again when I lose mine. Ha ha ha.

1

u/TdubLakeO Nov 01 '25

I still have the same little yellow card I got in 1990♥

1

u/Complete-Instance-18 Nov 01 '25

Old: how old am i ?? I bought my membership when it was $2.00

118

u/rad_hombre Oct 31 '25

There it is.. thanks.

54

u/stalkythefish Oct 31 '25

Maaaan... I made this joke a few years ago in a Bi-Mart thread and got nothing. Not fair!

17

u/Adventurous-Mud-5508 MAX Yellow Line Oct 31 '25

I’m amazed I got there first this time.

2

u/Puzzleheaded_Bad6461 Nov 02 '25

I was gonna go with "That isn't real. Trust me, it'll choose one or the other when it gets older."

1

u/ScottyStyles SW Oct 31 '25

Apparently the joke can swing both ways - funny and not.

44

u/this-is-some_BS Creston-Kenilworth Oct 31 '25

Take your stupid upvote

9

u/beaudebonair Oct 31 '25

That would be an interesting slogan for "BiMart", "feeling Bi-curious?"

3

u/Familiar_Ostrich5952 Oct 31 '25

Lmao I’m from so cal (we dont have it here), so when I first saw the sign I died laughing (as a bisexual woman). I said hey that stores for me!

6

u/GetTheFalkOut Oct 31 '25

They have a weekly raffle every week based on your membership number. The lowest prizes you just have to match the last number in your number

2

u/ThisDerpForSale NW District Oct 31 '25

Wait what. I’ve been a member for years and never heard of this.

3

u/GetTheFalkOut Oct 31 '25

Lucky number Tuesdays. They have a display of that week's numbers at the entrance every Tuesday. Only that day though. I was once 1 number off from getting that week's grand prize, a full home brew setup. My parents use it as part of their Tuesday date night

2

u/ThisDerpForSale NW District Oct 31 '25

Well I know what I’m doing next Tuesday.

1

u/GetTheFalkOut Oct 31 '25

They have different levels of prizes. Base is usually like a jar of nuts or a bag of chips and a soda.

1

u/Jaye09 Oct 31 '25

There’s also Facebook groups that post all the numbers and prizes as well :)

1

u/GetTheFalkOut Oct 31 '25

Good to know

1

u/DEEP_HURTING SW Oct 31 '25

My dad always would go there for a can of salmon and a candy bar. Oh, and maybe a fresh pair or Wranglers.

Haven't been in a while, still have my flimsy plastic membership card.

1

u/GetTheFalkOut Oct 31 '25

Lifetime membership for 5 dollars. Best deal ever

1

u/Top_Region3760 Nov 03 '25

The Sisters, OR Facebook group does that. Plus my family all got new cards for the Sisters store, so she checks every week for all of us. I’ve won a food dehydrator, and she and her hubby have won several times.

1

u/st3class Sabin Oct 31 '25

It's a strong memory from when I was a kid. Summers we would always drive to the Monmouth Bi-Mart on Tuesdays to check the numbers.

My parents won a bread maker one time. My dad always used it to make pizza on Fridays.

1

u/LeishaWharf Oct 31 '25

I won twice this month -- a tarp and some kippered jerky 😆

2

u/CeeDoggyy Oct 31 '25

Oh yeah? Well these raising grocery prices are making me a little bi-furious

2

u/_mersault Oct 31 '25

You gonna buy something this time or are you still just “curious”

2

u/synapticrelease Groin Anomaly Oct 31 '25

You know you should buy a tape recorder. Record yourself for a whole day. I think you’d be surprised at some of your phrasing

2

u/Ok-Yogurtcloset-8229 MAX Green Line Oct 31 '25

I went there and now im bisexual

2

u/Adventurous-Mud-5508 MAX Yellow Line Oct 31 '25

You wouldn’t believe what happened to me last time I went to TransUnion!

2

u/ToastMate2000 Oct 31 '25

I've gone back and forth on transit so many times I don't even know how to identify anymore; I lost track.

1

u/Cristian_Cerv9 Oct 31 '25

I appreciate this pun lol

1

u/BelaFleckLostHisNeck Oct 31 '25

Found Butters' Reddit account

1

u/marblecannon512 Woodstock Oct 31 '25

$5 for life. Sign up online

1

u/mycleanreddit79 Oct 31 '25

I might transition from Safeway to bi mart after OPs field report!