Joe's was a privately owned retail chain for sporting goods, ready-to-wear clothing, and auto parts; that operated stores in the Pacific Northwest region of the northwestern United States.

Joe's began in 1952 when Edward Orkney purchased army surplus sleeping bags and then set up a tent in Portland, Oregon, to sell them to the public.

[3] Orkney sold out of the sleeping bags and then started selling other army surplus merchandise in a store that then doubled in size by 1956,[3] making it Portland's largest retailer of sporting goods and outdoor gear.

[4] During the 1960s, Orkney transitioned the company away from military surplus and towards an eclectic combination of sporting goods, automotive parts, and hardware; the 1970s saw the company become a chain within the Portland metropolitan area, with its line of merchandise expanding to include housewares, lawn and garden supplies, and apparel.

The next year David Orkney stepped down as the chief executive officer and longtime-employee Norm Daniels assumed the role.

[5] The plan was to use the cash from the sale of shares to fund an expansion program in order to become more of a regional chain.

from its name to become simply Joe's in order to better reflect its product line, which had not included military surplus in many years.

[15] December 2008 sales dropped off by 10%, partly due to winter snowstorms in the Northwest that paralyzed major cities as Christmas approached.

[2] The company began liquidation sales on April 10, 2009,[2] and all stores were closed by the end of May with 1600 employees laid off.

[19] In January 2010, former Joe's executives established a small storefront in a strip mall in the Portland suburb of Bethany, in attempt to start a new version of the old company, but using the original G.I.

[23] The online presence was operated by GSI Commerce, and was sold to Canada-based UFA Co-operative Limited.