Issue I, August 2009

Posies Café News

A monthly newsletter featuring news & events at Posies Café andin the Kenton neighborhoodIssue I, August 2009

Letter from Jessie…

I must admit that I am in a state of shock and awe that the business I startedworking on over two years ago is now to the point of having a newsletter!It’s been quite a process to get to where we are, but I’m over the moon thatmy family and I have the opportunity to live this life right now – not just toopen a shop that has had such a positive response from the community, but because we are all about to see a transformation in our neighborhood, andcan drastically influence what it becomes.We are entering our third month of being open, and I feel we are finallygetting into the swing of things. My house may be a wreck, but the shop iscoming together nicely. In the coming weeks and months, I am hoping toadd several regular activities to our calendar of events, including live music,movies and maybe even a game or trivia night. We should be getting our OLCC permit to sell beer and wine in the next couple of months, and we’llhave some more variety to our pastry selection, too. Thanks for hanging outat the shop, and I’ll chat with you soon…

- Streetscape Project Starts this August -

The Portland Development Commission approved a $2 million project to revitalize the Kenton business district. Thisproject will break ground mid-August, and will include widening the sidewalks by five feet, adding new lampposts andplanters, and a sculptor has been commissioned to create sculptures to be placed throughout the main street.

Calendar

August 205pm – 9pmAugust 267:30p-8:30pWednesdays10am – 11amThird Thursday Art Walk:

Posies and other Kentonbusinesses will feature a new

Consult over Coffee: withwardrobe stylist SaraDahlquist (free)Story time with Judi

Pg. 1

Thursdays10:30 – 11am

Coming soon

: Classic movienightSaturdays7pm – 9pmMusic for kids of all ageswith Ben Thompson

Morning Activities

Posies Café News Issue I, August 2009

The long road to transforming the shop

Kenton legend has it that thehistoric building that houses PosiesCafé was once a brothel. Twoindependent sources on the sameday came by and shared that withus while we were under construction, one of which was amember of the Masonic Lodge,who also informed us that therewas a tunnel that went from theMasonic Lodge to the brothel sothat no one would see the freemasons visiting the ladies. For those of you who are history buffs,

From brothel, to Moose Lodge 1447, to Safeway, to bookstore, todance studio, to… Posies Café

you know from watching theHistory Channel special on Kentonthat there is a tunnel system thatlies beneath our business district.Frankly, I was always too scared togo into the tunnels, which werefrequented by our contractorsduring construction, but it is afascinating layer to our Kentonhistory that I think makes theneighborhood all the moreintriguing.When the first layer cameoff of the walls, behind the panelingwe discovered a giant muralpainting of a moose head with thewords “Moose Lodge 1447”painted across the wall. Our landlord later told me he was amember of the Lodge, and that ishow he came to purchase the building. Other residents told meabout it having been a Safeway atone time, and the daughter of theformer bookstore owner comes tothe shop on aregular basis for coffee. They usedto live in the back of the shop andsell books in the front.I’m sure the shop has been manyother things beyond what I have been told given the age of the building (it is a registered historic building), but those are the big onesthat folks in the neighborhoodremember and have shared.Having lived in Kentonfor over six years, Ihave long awaited acoffee shop on themain strip that I couldspend the day. After so muchwaiting, I realized that no one wasgoing to commit to or care aboutthis neighborhood as much as a

The shop the day before opening…

Posies Café News Issue I, August 2009

resident, so I decided to stopwaiting and go for it myself. Andwhat a journey it has been so far!Opening my own business is by far the greatest challenge (emotionallyand intellectually) I’ve ever takenon. I sometimes wonder during thehardest times if it’s worth it to takeon all of this risk and struggle, butit’s at those moments that I remindmyself that I didn’t want to look back on my life and have never taken any risks or major leaps. Sohere we are – I wrote the businessplan while working at a financecompany, I refined it after havingmy daughter, and when I enrolledin the American Barista & CoffeeSchool right here in Portland, Iknew I was committed. After months of rejections for financing, Iturned to the PortlandDevelopment Commissiondetermined to convince them thatmy shop was just what their UrbanRenewal Area mission was lookingfor. It took a while, and a lot of anxiety, but we got our financing inplace, our build-out completed, andI scrounged for every piece of equipment and furniture we have…and with more help from myfriends and family than I couldhave ever imagined, we opened our doors on May 1

2009.Many of the people working atPosies are friends of mine, andeveryone else has an interestingstory as to how they ended uphere…

Veronica:

We met in a birthingclass over two years ago, and after our baby girls were born, startedmeeting every week to hang out(aka: not go crazy). She had been a barista for many years before, andhelped me learn the ropes. She was alsoour credibility on our loan applications!Check out her beautiful artwork in thechildren’s room. She is also the shop artcurator.

Libby:

When Libby’s husband, Chris,came to do some landscaping at our house, we hit it off right away. Whenwe found out they were due to have a baby a few months after us, we had tomeet. It was an easy friendship – wewere both athletes, she had a great senseof humor, and man could she bake! TryLibby’s Good Karma muffins, chocolatewalnut cookies and brown rice crispytreats.

Jadah:

We were at the Columbia Park playground. We were chatting about myopening the shop, and she said she waslooking for a part-time job. She wasawesome to hang out with, and was agreat fit with everyone else, so here she istoday!

Gretchen:

Jonathan met Gretchen at afriend’s party and they both couldn’tstop talking about their kids. She madecustom aprons and she wanted to be partof something like we were doing at theshop… again, another great fit, and easydecision. Check out Gretchen’s businessCorazon, and her aprons at the shop(we’re all wearing them, including themayor!).

Pete & Autumn:

Also known as theadorable couple at the shop… Peteapproached me while we were under construction to see if we were hiring…Our contractor said Pete might as wellmake himself useful and sweep up whilehe was waiting for me, and the rest washistory. Pete brought in Autumn, andtheir motivation and work-ethic wasenough for me – they were brought ontothe team early, having even helped build-out parts of the shop!

Continued

Helpus promote Posies inthe neighborhood!

Pick up a postcard at the shoplike the one above, write your name on it, and give it to afriend or neighbor who hasn’t been to the shop. For every 2postcards that are brought back with your name on it, we’ll giveyou a free drink!

Thursday ArtWalk in Kenton

Kenton’s business district has anew energy, and we wanted toadd an event that would bringneighbors out to enjoysomething together. So a few of us got together and started 3

Thursday in Kenton. Everymonth, from 5pm – 9pm youcan visit most of the shops inthe neighborhood, check outtheir newest artist and hear some great live music!