On day two of the Main Street Mavericks road trip across Oregon, Kendall and I made our way to the North Coast of Oregon. Most of our scheduled businesses were in Cannon Beach, the iconic town with the giant Haystack Rock as its landmark.
Cannon Beach’s main street wouldn’t be the same without the iconic pink and white striped candy shop Bruce’s Candy Kitchen. Open for over sixty years, Bruce’s has become a popular stop for its famous salt-water taffy bins.
On day two of the Main Street Mavericks, we went to the North Coast of Oregon — hitting the family-owned High Life Adventure Park in Warrenton, just south of Astoria. Co-owned by Dave and Lancy Larson, with daughter Jana Dean managing their aerial ropes course in Seaside, the small business is a family affair — employing grandchildren to run tours and son-in-laws to help construct (and test) the ziplines.
Main Street Mavericks started as a pipe dream. What if we could take our love of small businesses on the road to meet and hear from REAL small business owners? Would they want to meet with us? What advice would they have for us? Could we be of any help to them?
On day one of Main Street Mavericks, Nina Murphy’s SE Portland sake shop was stop four on a road trip around Oregon to meet small business owners. Nestled just one block away from the eastside waterfront, Sunflower Sake is a sake shop and tasting room.
Amanda Siska of Bread & Badger welcomed the Main Street Mavericks to her SE Portland home and art studio on day one of our tour to meet Oregon small business owners.
When William Lay first met with a small business coach to discuss his idea for a size-inclusive gym in Portland, Oregon, the coach laughed at him. But Lay was dead serious. He wanted to own a gym that felt comfortable for people of all body types, and All Bodies Strong — Portland’s first gym for larger-bodies — is going strong. As Lay advised, “Ignore the naysayers.”
Merchant Maverick first met Edith Johnson (Edie to her friends and bookstore patrons) in the summer of 2023. She was the recipient of Merchant Maverick’s grant for Portland-owned businesses — she had recently decided to expand her bookstore pop-up into a brick-and-mortar location in NE Portland, Oregon.
Co-owners Sariel and Zion are making waves with their small business, armed with an unbridled entrepreneurial spirit, a commitment to education, and a desire to help break the cycles of poverty and create generational wealth.
Johnson’s independent children’s bookstore is seriously thriving, and now, thanks to a $10,000 opportunity grant from Merchant Maverick, she can continue following her small business dreams and building her bookstore.
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