Portland’s Flour Bloom Bakery Is Closing Permanently

Just a year and a half into business, Grand Avenue’s Flour Bloom will close for good on Wednesday, April 30. In an extensive Instagram farewell, owners went into the reasons for the closure, including “a torturously low season” and Flour Bloom’s oven breaking on Wednesday, April 2.

Through the farewell post, Flour Bloom’s team told fans that money and operations were just not working anymore. The rotating rack and oven busting was enough to push the business over the edge. Running labor at “75-85% almost every single month and trying to keep up has put us in a spot where this was the last little bit to take us down.”

“We hope y’all continue to show up for this local community,” the owners continued. “Please don’t let this continue to happen to other shops. The way this city is going it feels like small businesses are soon to be forgotten and that’s heartbreaking.”

Flour Bloom

Inspired by the 1970s Italian American bakeries, owner Bree Licata debuted the glitzy bakery with a slew of gluten-free and vegan pastries in late 2023. The East Coast-inspired shop, featuring Italian butter cookies and rainbow cookies, was a thunderous hit for those with a sweet tooth. The plant-filled cafe had a breeziness ideal for coffee and bacon, egg, and cheese, too. Licata worked at Pine State Biscuits and at Salt & Straw’s commissary kitchen before opening this business.

“All I ever wanted was to give people a space where they can shine,” the farewell post concludes. “End stage capitalism is here. Show up for your community. Love your people fiercely. Protect them loudly.”