Category Archives: Local Businesses

By Leigh Shelton | CNews Advertising Representative

Since he was a child, Joseph Mohrmann has survived off discarded food from New Seasons.

“It was essentially ‘Blue Slips,’” Mohrmann said, using the store term for edible-but-unsellable food up for grabs for employees. What employees don’t take is donated to community groups.

“We went to a church that got food donations from New Seasons,” Mohrmann said. “I remember packing paper bags for others in need, but it was for us, too. We needed them too.”

Now, at age 24, a five-year grocery clerk at New Seasons Concordia, 5320 NE 33rd Ave, Mohrmann still relies on the discarded food to get by. At $18.80 an hour, after rent and bills are paid, he said he has about $200 left to spend on food and anything else he may need or want in the two weeks before he gets paid again.

“I’m very frugal,” Mohrmann said, who shares an apartment in Cully with his sister. “We don’t heat the apartment much. I shop at thrift stores.”

For about a year, Mohrmann and his co-workers have been meeting after hours to figure out what they can do to improve conditions in their workplace. In December, they filed for a union election and voted 94–16 in favor of joining the New Seasons Labor Union, a new independent union the workers formed themselves in 2022. Seven other Portland-area New Seasons stores have voted to join them, totaling 800 newly unionized workers.

“It took a lot of energy and time to cultivate our working-class solidarity,” said Raël Adkerson, a seven-year New Seasons employee and Concordia resident. “In a time when people are very polarized, we have to get back to understanding that our labor is something that brings us all together.”

Adkerson said the progressive language the company touts no longer matches his day-to-day experience. “The things this company was built on, we want to see some of that back,” Adkerson said.

Negotiations are underway for the workers’ first contract.

Progressive label

New Seasons is a 19-store grocery chain founded here in Portland in 1999. In 2009, New Seasons’ founding members sold off a majority stake of the company to Endeavour Capital, a private equity firm. In 2019, Endeavour sold New Seasons, along with a suite of similar West Coast grocers, to E-mart Inc, South Korea’s largest retailer.

New Seasons markets heavily its Certified B Corporation label. Awarded by global nonprofit B-Lab to achieve the “B Corp” label, a for-profit business is supposed to meet certain criteria in areas of sustainability, worker standards, and accounting transparency. When New Seasons first won the award in 2013, it did so with a score of 120 points. In its most recent survey, its points slipped to 80, the minimum required to hold the label.

In an email, a New Seasons spokesperson said, “From the time our company was founded in 1999, we have been rooted in taking care of our staff first and foremost, and B Corp certification is a recognition of the great work we’ve done. We’re proud of our legacy as a progressive employer that offers industry-leading wages, a 30 percent discount, and generous benefits, including paid parental leave, paid time off, paid adoption benefits, 401K matching, twice-a-year automatic wage increases and so much more.”

Informing customers

On a rainy Saturday afternoon in early February, New Seasons employee Dan Morrissey gathered with co-workers at the edge of the parking lot and approached customers as they came and went from the store. It was the first time the workers brought their struggle to customers’ attention. “Once people understand that we work here, and just want to talk to them about what’s going on in the store, they’re incredibly supportive,” Morrissey said.

Morrissey said he joined the union hoping for better pay, but most importantly, he’s seeking respect from the management.

For Joe Meyers, a 15-year New Seasons employee, who currently works in produce, respect is top on his list as well. “‘Patronizing’ is a word I keep coming back to when I think of how the company treats its workers: like high school kids who need a parent figure instead of full adult humans, critical to their success and contributing members of society,” wrote Meyers in an email.

Meyers said as the company has grown, he’s seen an explosion of middle management positions, while his job gets narrower and more mindless.

“We used to problem solve,” he said. “It’s not just pay, but training, resources and respect are all in short supply. In my view, the company had maybe a very small opportunity in the beginning to ‘create good jobs in the community’ as all businesses like to promote, but they chose money instead and now seem hell-bent on not listening and creating a desperate transient workforce.”

Leigh Shelton is the ad rep for Concordia News. She loves getting to know her Concordia neighbors and exploring ways we can better support each other. Reach out and say hi at CNewsBusiness@ConcordiaPDX.org.

By Kathryn Crabtree | CNA Media Team

Walking into the Flour Market Cafe, 5507 NE 30th Ave., on a late Sunday morning is an adventure in sensory delight. The array of multiple breads makes it challenging to choose an item, which include country levain, multigrain, caraway rye, baguettes or challah packaged to go.

The café also features a variety of home-made jams, as well as fruits, veggies and fresh produce from local markets. Whether you want a breakfast, snack or lunch, Flour Market has pastries, biscuits and croissants for you to choose, along with coffee, soda and decaf pour-overs to sip with your treats.

The culinary outpost also offers a variety of cookies, vegan and gluten-free items, as well as Panforte, which resembles a flattened fruitcake and is an Italian combination of dried fruit and whole hazelnuts. A distinctive treat, it makes a delightful hostess gift.

Another unique approach to breakfast is the croissant loaf, buttery and flakey, which makes a perfect base for a Sunday brunch French toast. These items will provide patrons with savory or sweet pastries they can share with their Valentines this month.

The proprietor, Lisa Belt, enjoys helping her customers make informed purchases. She gladly explains the ingredients, spices and options to the dog walkers, children looking for midmorning treats, or the ladies from across the street who go to The People’s Yoga Studio. Belt will even offer to heat up the ham-and-cheese or red-pepperand-gruyere-cheese croissants in her standard oven.

Belt also sells several varieties of granola. One such granola is a classic fruit-and-nut combination joined by a crystalized Ginger Granola, full of toasted cashews and pepitas and topped off with Oregon grown Vincent Family dried cranberries.

Not a fan of ginger? Cocoa Nib Granola contains scoops of high antioxidant cocoa nibs added to toasted flakes of coconut and sliced almonds. The touch of cinnamon, brown sugar and cocoa added to the oats provides an irresistibly flavorful crunch—not just for breakfast but for the perfect trail mix as well.

Outdoor covered seasonal seating is provided by the restaurants, coffee shops and other near-by purveyors of food and services, as well as several tables and chairs in front of the cafe. Inside, comfortable seating for couples, or for groups utilizing a lengthy library table, is available. The rear door exits to a deck with umbrella tables that provide a pleasant sense of intimacy.

Opening last March, Belt is looking forward to marking her anniversary in the brick-and-mortar cafe, supplied by her wholesale bakery division.

The Flour Market Café is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. To order online, visit FlourMarketPDX.com every Tuesday for pickup on Saturdays at Belt’s bakery, located at 2523 SE 9th Ave.

Kathryn is a recent transplant from the Midwest and, as she reports in CNews, things are a lot different here.

By Rob Cullivan | CNews Editor

As Covid lockdowns and masking mandates end, people have come out to slake their live music thirst at two of Concordia’s most popular venues, the Alberta Rose Theatre and T.C. O’Leary’s.

Talent Buyer Adam East of Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St., says the venue has hosted live performances since last September and is now just about back to its pre-pandemic average of five shows per week.

Upcoming shows include Booker T. Jones of “Green Onions” fame May 1; Portland singer Stephanie Schneiderman and indie rockers Swansea on May 6 as well as a musical tribute to Dolly Parton on June 4 called “Dolly Hoot” featuring local musicians.

Alberta encourages patrons to be vaccinated as well as wear masks, East said, but doesn’t require either. Alberta weathered the Covid storm by being creative.

“We switched to online shows, and presented over 150 livestream shows during lockdown,” East said. “We had a subscription service that kept some of our staff working, and provided some work for musicians in the local scene who had seen all their gigs dry up. We lost a few staff members, but most came back.”

Down the street at Irish music hub T.C. O’Leary’s, 2926 Alberta St., owner Tom O’Leary said he’s hosted performances since the end of the first lockdown, in spring 2020 and whenever regulations permitted after that. However, O’Leary’s did move its performers to an enclosed area outside the pub to decrease the potential for Covid transmission.

“We kept it outside as much as we possibly could depending on the temperature,” he said, noting patrons could enjoy the performances via video screens inside the pub. O’Leary’s doesn’t ask patrons to be masked or show vaccination cards, but the pub owner said his establishment can accommodate those who are concerned about Covid exposure.

“If anyone was feeling nervous to be back in this environment, we have plenty of space outside,” he said, noting the pub has seating room for up to 60 people outside.

O’Leary’s will ask for proof of vaccinations and that patrons be masked when Tom stars in the award-winning Irish American tale “The Smuggler,” which opened April 28 and which runs through to May 22 (see related story page 8). The Dublin born actor says regulations are different for theater as opposed to music, and the pub must abide the rules guiding playhouses for its staging of “The Smuggler.”

CNews Editor Rob Cullivan is a veteran journalist, publicist and grant writer who has written about everything from rock ‘n’ roll to religion. He possesses a deep affection for writers and photographers who hit deadline.

From motorcycles sales to six punk barbershops to operating a bioplastic company to the early years of food carts to bagels, Justin King has the heart of an entrepreneur.

Inspired by his East Coast Jewish Ukrainian-Polish grandparents – Ben and Esther – Justin grew up eating bagels. He went from New York to Miami and finally settled here 23 years ago.

With his first deli in 2019 in the Roseway neighborhood on Sandy Boulevard, his latest business is Ben and Esther’s Vegan Jewish Deli at 1800 N.E. Alberta St in the former Random Order Pie Bar location.

That’s right, it’s vegan, one of a very small handful in the entire country. The Ben & Esther’s team started making lox with salt-roasted carrots, swapped the whitefish for brined-and-smoked hearts of palm and began baking babka and rugelach with vegan butter.

The shift ended up being a hit, especially among Portland’s vegans. He also operates a Ben & Esther’s in San Diego, and he plans to open another one in Seattle.

“I’ve been plant-based for a long time. When I opened Ben & Esther’s, I was very business-minded, and I thought that opening a traditional Jewish deli would be good for business.

“After a year, I couldn’t reconcile that with my principles,” said the vegan.

To stay true to his beliefs, Justin transformed it to vegan, complete with his redefined versions of lox, corned beef, brisket, white fish and knishes, to name a few.

Along with bagels and a variety of schmears, Ben & Esther’s also offers Jewish pastries that include babka, challah and hamentashen.

The two local Ben & Esther’s are open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., seven days a week and can be reached at 503.265.8470.

True to his core philosophies, Justin also operates a storefront on Hawthorne Boulevard that feeds anyone who walks in the door. That location will also soon house a vegan bakery.

A father of three and a Hare Krishna, Justin practices yoga and stays true to his principles.

“You don’t have to sacrifice the integrity of your food,” he said. “You can have traditional anything in a less harmful way. Principle over profit.”

After living east, south, north and west, Marsha Sandman is home at last. And she wants to hear your story. Contact her at MarshaJSandman@gmail.com.

It’s been two years of change for Bolt Fabric Boutique, although you wouldn’t know it to gaze at the bright sewn samples in the window or walk inside.

After 15 years since opening the shop on Alberta Street – and the 2018 move to 4636 N.E. 42nd Ave. – Gina Cadenasso in December sold the natural, sustainable fibers store to employees Bitty Eagan and Anne Lagomarsino.

Both are longtime seamstresses. Anne began early in life, but said her interest became more intense in her 20s. Bitty learned to sew as a child from her grandmother, who worked as a costumer for Warner Brothers before being hired away by Lucille Ball.

Anne has worked at Bolt for 2-plus years and her interest in owning a business piqued when she learned Gina intended to sell. “I couldn’t manage to be a business owner by myself,” she said.

Bitty, an employee for 3-plus years, was all in. In fact, that same grandmother left her an inheritance that provided Bitty’s buy-in. “It seemed the perfect thing to do.”

Bolt had made it through the first 20 months of the pandemic, and the two were confident the business model – including BoltFabricBoutique.com – would continue and thrive.

“Bolt had this teeny, tiny online store at the beginning of the pandemic, and it was essential to shift a lot of our sales initially to online,” Anne recalled. “Bolt had to shift a lot of the ways we did business.

“The most essential was Gina researching and implementing the system necessary to track and sell inventory both online and in person. Now we have customers all across the U.S.”

During the early days of the pandemic, masked Bolt employees carried fabric selections and notions to masked customers on the store’s porch, she added. Many customers were making masks.

“One of the things that’s really important to us is to be available to our customers, even people who were not our customers [previously],” Bitty explained. “A lot of people were home and were desperate for things to do. A lot of people learned how to sew.

“I think it’s really empowering to make the things that you use,” she added “We’ve noticed a lot of different types who come into the shop,” Anne said. “It seems to be appealing to all different kinds of people.” For instance, more men are sewing their apparel.

Bitty reported an increase in transgender customers shop there nowadays. “It’s hard to find clothes if your body’s not the stereotype, all different sizes and shapes.”

Nancy Varekamp is semiretired from her career in journalism, public relations and – her favorite work engagement – writing and editing targeted newsletters.

JRJ Skillets brings traditional Mexican flavors to Concordia. The owners are proud of their Mexican roots, and they are incorporating Oaxaca’s flavors into their menu. “I like to recreate the flavors of my childhood and share them with my clients,” Ramiro Eusebio Sanchez said.

JRJ combines the first initials of Ramiro and his fellow entrepreneur,: José Cruz Lopez and José Juan Trejo Resendiz. They opened their doors at 2529 N.E. Alberta St. in October.

Ramiro is the main chef, and he is responsible for the menu and day-to-day operations. Most of JRJ’s salsas & mole are modeled after his mom’s cooking. “My mother is the biggest inspiration, teacher and critic of my food,” he pointed out.

However, the restaurant also offers American items such as biscuits and gravy, and burgers.

A best seller and recommended by the chef are the chilaquiles with green or red sauce and over-easy eggs. Also popular are carnitas and carne asada. “The enchiladas of mole are a must have.“ José Cruz said.

Ramiro immigrated to the U.S. at the age 16. At 35, he has nearly two decades of experience pouring into JRJ.

“I have worked in all aspects of the restaurant business. I’ve been a dishwasher, waiter and manager.” He found Portland to be the right city for him and Concordia the perfect spot for his longtime dream to open a restaurant.

As a business owner, Ramiro understands the importance of quality and feedback, and he believes they set JRJ apart. Owners import from México many of the key ingredients that cannot be found in the U.S., like chilies and spices – while using as many fresh local vegetables as possible.

“The quality can be tasted. We care, from the flavor and presentation of our plates to the presentation of our staff,” Ramiro reported.

“We want to offer excellence in taste, plating and quality,” he pointed out. For instance, the coffee is an original blend available only at JRJ. In addition, he takes to heart every review left on Yelp. com, and he invites all Concordia neighbors to visit, try the food and share their feedback online.

JRJ owners are in the process of acquiring an alcohol license, and they are hoping to have their fresh mimosas and tasty cantaritos on the menu in March. “We use fresh-squeezed juices, not concentrate” Ramiro promised.
The full menu is available on JRJSkillets.com.

Nota del editor: Artículo disponible en Español, visita ConcordiaPDX.org/JRJSkillets.

Javier Puga-Phillips holds the Southwest 1 position on the Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA) Board of Directors, manages rentals of the McMenamins Kennedy School Community Room and chairs the CNA Social Committee. He is a real estate professional locally, and he is a published author and motivational speaker in Latin America and Spain.