The president of

convenience stores announced Friday the largest reward in the company's history -- $5,000 -- to catch a man who has apparently targeted the chain, holding up eight stores this month, with the two most recent occurring Wednesday morning in Northeast and then Southwest Portland.

"I've been in this business 35 years and never seen anything like this," said Chris Girard. "It's weird and it's scary for our employees."

He said the chain, which has 104 stores in the metropolitan area, typically offers a $1,000 reward for information in connection with a robbery.

Two weeks ago, the company bumped that to $2,000. On Friday, Girard upped it again.

"The guy hit one store twice, just a couple days apart," Girard said, adding that all of the robberies took place between just after midnight and 6:30 a.m. "On another day he hit a store in Northeast Portland, then a store in Southeast Portland and then one in Tigard."

In each instance, Girard said, the man implies he has a weapon.

"We assume that he has a weapon," Girard said. "We're not going to challenge that. We don't want to see it. We train our employees to prevent robberies, but once it goes down, our training is to avoid violence. Employees don't resist or challenge. They treat it like a customer transaction. We want it to be efficient and over with."

Girard said the company is working with law enforcement authorities.

"We don't know how he gets to the stores, or leaves," he said. "We don't know if he's working alone or with a partner."

The suspect is described as a clean-cut white male in his 30s, 5'10" - 6'00", medium build, and short brown hair. He has a tattoo in the web of his right hand.

Surveillance video is available for viewing at

The robberies:

On Tuesday March 1, at about 12:19 a.m., the Plaid Pantry at 6630 Northeast Glisan St.

On Friday March 4, at about 1:39 a.m., he Plaid Pantry at 6010 Northeast Halsey St.

On Sunday March 6, at about 12:33 a.m., the Plaid Pantry at 6010 Northeast Halsey St., but fled because the employee recognized him from the March 4 robbery.

On Sunday March 6, at about 3:03 a.m., the Plaid Pantry store at 16226 Southeast Division St.

On Sunday March 6, at about 6:23 a.m., the Plaid Pantry store at 11705 Southwest Pacific Highway in Tigard.

On Tuesday March 15, at about 3:29 a.m., the Plaid Pantry store at 10255 Northeast Glisan St.

On Wednesday March 23, at about 12:56 a.m., the Plaid Pantry store, at 6630 Northeast Glisan St.

On March 23, at about 4:25 a.m., the Plaid Pantry store, located at 7545 Southwest Oleson Road.

The Portland Police Bureau's Crime Stoppers program is offering a cash reward of up to $1,000 in connection with the robberies.

Call Crime Stoppers at 503-823-HELP (4357), leave a tip online at

or text 823HELP plus your tip and send it to CRIMES (274697).