Oregon City Market Opens Its Doors This Week

Last week, a Bridgetown Bites reader told me that a new business called the Oregon City Market is opening in the Historic Waterfront District in downtown Oregon City. Their soft opening was yesterday, Tuesday, March 3, there’s a ribbon-cutting today, and they are doing a grand opening celebration this weekend, from Friday March 6 to Sunday March 8.

We wrote a short entry about them in last Friday’s Small Bites, but I was curious to learn more, so I sat down to chat with Jana Daisy-Ensign, one of the market’s owners. Here’s some of what we talked about.

Oregon City Market: What’s in a Name?

I ask this question often about the story behind a business’s name, but this time it’s pretty straightforward: It’s a market in Oregon City. The owners describe it as a “locally-owned micro grocer in the heart of downtown.” And they’re not far from the Oregon City Municipal Elevator—one of only a handful of public elevators in the entire world. It’s a kind of “vertical street” in the downtown area.

The Oregon City Market Logo

Jana spoke a little about their logo, which was designed by an artist. “It’s really unique and special, and is a tribute to some of the things that are very regional,” she explained. “Like the camas flower—we’re right next to the Camassia Preserve here in Oregon City.”

She added, “And there’s the elevator pictured, and the Doug Fir. It is really iconic to the whole state, but also to Clackamas County where so many of the Christmas trees—not only for our state, but for the nation–are grown.”

Who Owns Oregon City Market?

Jana Daisy-Ensign and Tim Ensign are the people behind the Oregon City Market. “My husband and I are starting this together,” said Jana. “We have been Oregon City residents for nearly 20 years. We have a little farm, as well—Christmas trees, historically—and we’re three generations on our property.” That includes their kids, who are now teenagers.

For many years, Jana and Tim both worked in the world of craft beverages, among other things. Together they have over 40 years in the business. Tim has worked predominantly with breweries in the last dozen years; he also worked for a decade in retail grocery in both Oregon and California, as well as in a co-op. Currently, he has a small brand brokerage company where he does independent craft beverage representation work.

Jana has worked primarily in cider. She is the Marketing Director for the Northwest Cider Association, and spent some time working with the Downtown Oregon City Association, too. She is also a yoga teacher.

Connections

Through their work in the beverage world, they both have connections a lot of the bottle shops and small mom and pop businesses, which is a boon for their market. “We’re very social people and we have a big web of connectivity from our jobs,” Jana said.

Her time teaching yoga also offered ways to connect with the community. “I used to teach yoga in Oregon City for years and years,” said Jana. “And so I know a lot of the folks—like the mayor, for example, who will come to our ribbon cutting.”

That would be Mayor Denyse McGriff—and the ribbon cutting is today at 3:30pm. It is hosted by the Oregon City Chamber of Commerce with support of the Downtown Oregon City Association. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Origins of Oregon City Market: Getting the Space

I wondered how they landed on this space. “You know, you look at listings, wistfully,” Jana remarked. “We did that for retail spaces in Oregon City for past decade. And then this spot popped up.” When she worked downtown she had admired the space and remembered it. “I said, ‘Oh, I know that spot, the landlord is great, and it’s really cute!'”

She asked Tim if he wanted to go look at it—this was in late December 2025, around the holidays—and he agreed. 

At first when they were talking to the realtor, they thought it was rented. But they wanted to check it out anyway. “While we were there, the future tenant fell through!” she exclaimed. “So we just put all our eggs in one basket and decided to dive in and go for it.” She says it has been a bit of a whirlwind experience.

The building is about 750 square feet in total, with about 150 sf of that used as back stock area. That leaves about 600 square feet on the retail floor.

What Was in This Space Before the Oregon City Market

The building was previously a toy store. “But before that,” said Jana, “There was a gentleman who did live edge wood work cutting those beautiful tables and furniture that has that kind of live edge.” Live edge is where the designer incorporates the natural edge of the wood into the design of the furniture.

She added, “He actually did some of the window sills and there’s some remnants of that in the space. To me, it’s kind of reminiscent of being in a tree-filled space. It’s that kind of ethos—and big, big windows.”

Checking Out Other Local Markets, and the Desire to Nurture Community

Jana told me that for quite some time, she and Tim had chatted about possibly running a market. They’d check out local markets while traveling, and also visited little markets closer to home. “I think of some of the the examples in Portland that are bigger than us but that we love, and think are doing a really beautiful job,” explained Jana. “Like Bread & Roses on Foster that’s like a little grocery store. They’re probably, I would say, quadruple our size in terms of footprint.”

The really want their market to be a resource for the neighborhood, like the bodegas and neighborhood markets they’ve seen over the years.

“It’s kind of a callback to those neighborhood markets” she said. “A place that gives you what you need to grab and take home for the evening, or where you can stop and grab a sandwich. But it’s also like your community neighborhood bulletin board, where people can get to know each other and have a little bit more community connection.”

Filling a Need

One of the things that inspired them to open Oregon City Market was their perceived need of such a place in downtown Oregon City—and not just a gas station minimart.

“We’ve been here for almost 20 years and there isn’t anything like it in our area,” she explained. “My husband was shocked that the city Market [URL] was available.”

Fun fact: The Oregon City Market is located mere feet away from Oregon City’s historic 1800s grocer.

What Is a Micro Grocer, Anyway?

It’s easy to compare this concept of a micro grocer to a bodega, but it is not going to be a bodega. “We were thoughtful about the choice of language,” Jana explained. “I’m not claiming that we are a bodega.” They are sensitive to the cultural weight the word “bodega” has behind it. The word “micro” reflects the diminutive size compared to a lot of corner stores.

Tim said early on that Oregon City Market is going to be the size of a convenience store, but they really wanted to distinguish the fact that not only will they have snacks and grab and go foods, but also grocery essentials, kitchen staples, and the pantry items that folks find useful.

And while their stock won’t be huge they are curating it to meet the needs of their regulars, as well as what tourists might need (the nearby Oregon City Municipal Elevator sees over 100,000 visitors a year). But serving their local community is very important. “We to want to serve the community that shops here.”

Look and Feel

They are definitely putting their own touch on the design/look and feel of the space. “It was just kind of an open palette,” said Jana, describing what they were presented with when they got the space. “We’re trying to embrace a bit of a historic nod.”

One thing they have is a photo of the 1800s historic grocery from the Oregon City archives, and printed it up for display. Their custom shelving is made from Doug Fir wood.

The vibe is a mix of old, warmth, including some thing they’ve picked up at local antique shops, along with a clean and sleek modern feel.

What They’ll Carry at the Oregon City Market

They plan to carry a variety of products with a focus on local and high-quality sourcing:

• Beer, wine, cider, and cold drinks.
• Eggs and dairy.
• Pantry items, grocery essentials, and staples.
• Specialty foods.
• Curated selection of snacks.
• Prepared and grab-and-go items like locally-made sandwiches.
• Home goods.
• Seasonal items.
• Sweet treats.
• Souvenirs and gifts.
• Small selection of fresh produce from local farms.
• Fresh flowers.

They will not prepare any food on-site, as they have no commercial kitchen of any kind. If they expand in the future, that could change.

“It’s a place where you can pop in for milk, shop for dinner, or connect with friends. We’re reviving the small town neighborhood market that existed before big box stores,” said Jana.

Favorites

I wondered if there is a product Jana is particularly excited to have. And that’s tea, as Jana is a big tea fan.

“You know, something I’m excited about right now is just that we have a pretty robust tea section for such a small store,” explained Jana. “And we’re curating local coffee from some small roasters. And I think that’s pretty exciting.” And then she dropped this: “On our tiny farm, I’ve got a little test plot of tea plants.”

She added, “I don’t know if you know, but there’s a tea grower down in Salem,” she explained. “We are in a geographical region where tea can do well—the evergreen plant that is the base of green and black and white and oolong tea. Who knew? I just learned a couple of years ago.”  

Of course, I had to mention the folks behind Mako Matcha Mill, who is working to develop a variety of matcha that is specific to Oregon.

The Pommelier Life + Events

Jana is also a certified Pommelier. She explains what that is:

“It’s the equivalent of the sommelier in the cider world, and I run a competition with my team and judges and do sensory analysis,” she explained. “I was one of the first dozen or so pommeliers in the world. I consider myself a cider expert, and my husband is definitely a beer expert—we’re both pretty knowledgeable.”

This means their selection of wine will be really nice and their beer and cider selection will be unstoppable. Plus, they will do tastings on Fridays.

She talked a bit about some upcoming events connected to their grand opening: On Friday, March 6, Alchemy Cider will be there doing a tasting. On Saturday, March 7, Level Beer will be there doing a tasting. Then for International Women’s Day, Sunday, March 8, they’ll have a special pop-up with the woman-owned business Hot Mama Salsa, doing a tasting of chips and salsa.

“Yeah, it’ll be fun,” said Jana. “We definitely want to activate.” They’ll have future events, too, and are looking forward to working with members of the local food community to help promote their work.

Parking

When you visit, know there is street parking, no off-street parking. And the street parking is metered—you can use the parking app but they also take coins, which seems like from another era. And that brings us back to …. the Oregon City Municipal Elevator.

“Of course, we’re always encouraging people to think about if they’re going to come and hang out in downtown for a while,” she said. “You can park up top where it’s free and maybe take the walk on the promenade and use the elevator or the stairs.”

Opening Hours

After all the opening festivities this weekend, they plan to be open Tuesday through Thursday, 8:30am to 5:30pm. Friday will again open at 8:30am and we’ll stay open till 7pm. And then Saturday and Sunday, they’re planning to be open 11am to 5pm. They are closed on Mondays.

“We’ll launch with that and if we find that it’s really busy later in the evening and people stay open longer, we can do that,” explained Jana. “Or if we find that there’s traffic we’re really missing on Mondays, we can adjust. We’ll be fluid.”

Plus, the time change is coming this weekend, which means longer days, and that could translate to longer hours. Only time will tell (pun intended).

You’ll probably see Tim there more often than Jana, as his schedule around his other work is more flexible. But Jana will support in the background and they want their teenager to help out eventually, too. And they’ll both be there for the ribbon-cutting and grand opening festivities.

Wishing Jana, Tim, and the Oregon City Market team all the best and great success with their new market!

Oregon City Market [opening March 4, 2026]
610 Main Street, Suite A, Oregon City
Oregon City Market website | Instagram | Facebook