Bonnie Brasure, owner of Uptown Village-based Bleu Door Bakery, recently purchased the 2,400-square-foot building at 2411 Main Street for $300,000. The transaction will allow Brasure to expand her bakery business into the former Urban Eccentric space, which is located next door to where she currently operates.
“We’re going to keep the [existing] door open during the summer time and then have the [new] side open year-round,” said Brasure. “We need the space in the kitchen so badly and we need indoor seating. I can’t do another December in the cold.”
The new space could open as soon as January, with a new, ‘local-inspired’ menu and expanded hours.
Brasure credited WSU Vancouver’s Mentor Analysis Program (MAP) for helping to bring the expansion idea to reality. The program, which Bleu Door participated in earlier this year, unites small businesses with student teams to develop customized financial, market and organizational analysis with growth action plans.
“[The students] did a survey and found that so many people love to come here because it is different and unique,” she said. “They want to come here to support local.”
Bleu Door is working with Vancouver-based LSW Architects to design the new space.