Tres and Cat Daddy are at it again. And in addition to the legal weddings and Swahili lessons, this time there will be Wiffle ball, a DJ booth, bike-in movies, and possibly a hot tub on the roof of the storage shack (this last one is just a dream). Five years after the duo opened Portland’s infamous Voodoo Doughnut on Southwest 3rd Avenue, co-owners Tres Shannon and Kenneth “Cat Daddy” Pogson are opening a new location named Voodoo Doughnut Too at 1501 NE Davis St.
One day Shannon and Pogson were driving down Northeast Sandy Boulevard, saw the asphalt gray building peeking out from Northeast Davis Street, flipped a bitch, and claimed it as their new stomping ground. Pogson asserts their good fortune was “channeled through the Voodoo gods.” The pair had been trying to open another location for two years, so having the lease and paperwork go smoothly with the new site was a big victory. The project got underway roughly 100 days ago, and is slated to be finished for the Voodoo Doughnut Parade at 6:45 pm May 30, in which they hope 1,000 people will make a 1.3 mile march from the flagship store downtown to its spawn in Northeast.
Voodoo Too is across the street from one of Portland’s best dive bars, Sandy Hut, and both businesses are so excited about their new neighbor they have decided to engage in a little cross- marketing. Voodoo Too will advertise itself as “Voodoo Doughnut Too—across the street from Sandy Hut” and Sandy Hut vice versa. Shannon is courting the City for a crosswalk across Sandy to make sure his loyal patrons can stumble drunkenly across the street safely.
The new Voodoo building, formerly home to an Arctic Circle burger joint, is surrounded by a massive swath of pavement. Shannon and Pogson will be reserving most of the surface for outdoor seating, recreational activities (like Wiffle ball and uphill badminton) and a buttload of bike parking—though 10 to 15 spaces will be open for cars. “Bike-in” movies will be shown on the blank wall on the north side of the building, and the former drive-through window is being converted to a DJ booth. Shannon is also installing a Quadphonic jukebox that spins vinyl. While the outside of the building looks drab as hell, the inside is getting spicy with the help of the owners’ friend Buzz Gorder of Gorder Design. The walls are tasteful tints of orange, green and pink. Low counters line two of the walls so customers can watch traffic zip by on Sandy while pounding Stumptown coffee and their favorite fresh Voodoos.
Voodoo Too was birthed out of both necessity and personal drive. At the downtown location, there is 26 hours’ worth of work to do each day. “We’ve been horse-whipping that thing like a government mule,” says Pogson, explaining that the business has not been able to open new accounts for over a year because their doughnut production has hit its cap. Having a limited supply and booming demand has made Voodoos the most coveted doughnuts in town. Before Voodoo hit its production ceiling, their business was doubling every eight months. Opening the new location will allow Shannon and Pogson to open new accounts and expand their existing ones with businesses like Zupan’s and New Seasons. “I’ve been losing sleep over it, but we’re excited,” Pogson says.
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Sweet goodness on the east side!
AND its right by the Slutty?!
Hooray for bacon maple bars!
Sweet Voodoo East Yeah baby yeah
Way to go Cat Daddy–from your friend in Memphis.