NE 42nd Avenue from Fremont Street to Killingsworth is a study in contrasts, with thriving businesses and restaurants mixed with some that are struggling or didn’t survive hard times.
But a batch of new businesses have entered the field, including a charming bakery, a curated clothing boutique under new ownership, and a Spanish immersion daycare center and school scheduled to open in November.
Let’s start with coffee and baked goods. Tiny Love Bakery opened in April in a 500-square-foot space at 5124 NE 42nd Ave. It specializes in fresh baked goods made on site, coffee drinks, and breakfast sandwiches on homemade English muffins, says owner Julie Barrette. The menu changes frequently “to keep it fresh and seasonal,” as with Eva’s apple cake and buckwheat pear cakes at peak season. But standards like sausage, egg, and cheese sandwiches and chocolate chip or peanut butter mini cookies are regular.
Julie focuses on baking; her business and life partner, Dillon Bly, crafts the bakery’s sandwiches. Currently, Tiny Love is open half days from Saturday through Tuesday, opening at 9 a.m. on weekends and 8 a.m. Monday and Tuesday. Service is via a take-out window; there’s no room for customers inside.
A few blocks north on NE 42nd Avenue, next door to Nepo 42, is Golden Fern Boutique, also tiny. It’s run by mother-and-daughter team Laurel Faught and Charlene Johnson. Charlene, the owner, also operates a fitness studio in Camas, Wash.
In March, she says, the opportunity came up to buy the boutique from the prior owner, and staff fresh in the “up-and-coming, family-friendly” neighborhood.
The 300-square-foot shop, which reopened in April, is crammed with a “curated selection of clothing for women, infants, children, and men” at reasonable prices ($10 to $210-ish), much of it consigned or vintage, Charlene says, along with a selection of shoes, toys, jewelry, and art.
Brands include Madewell, Pacc, Talum, Nordstrom, and Macy’s. The shop is open Tuesday through Friday from noon to 5:30 p.m., and until 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Another newcomer, Pequenitos Child Care, a Spanish immersion program, is set to open in November according to Sthelatzy (pronounced Ste-ah-nee) Menner, multi-site coordinator and administrator for the Portland-based chain.
Pequenitos will take over the space previously occupied by the U.S. Bank branch at 4929 NE 42nd Ave., near Alberta Court. Initial options there will include an infant classroom, a preschool classroom, and after-school care.
By September 2026, a second infant classroom, a toddler classroom, and a kindergarten classroom are expected to open.
Chris Rauber and his wife moved to Portland and B-W in mid 2022 after many years in the San Francisco Bay Area. He wrote for the San Francisco Business Times and other publications. He was born in Oregon.