Beloved bakery in SE Portland closing after 37 years: ‘We’re crushed’
By Drew Marine
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PORTLAND Oregon (KPTV) — For 37 years, JaCiva’s Bakery on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard has created cakes and chocolates so delicious that customers like Laurel Singer have come back time and time again for decades.
“I’ve been a resident of this neighborhood 35 years and I think I’ve been coming every year since then,” Singer said. “The premiere cake is their Seventh Heaven cake which has seven different kinds of chocolate. Every special event, every occasion, anything that’s out of the ordinary is always celebrated with the Seventh Heaven cake in our household.”
Laura Boscole, daughter of owners Jack and Iva, says these connections with the local community and neighbors are what she going to miss most after deciding to close up shop for good.
She took over managing the bakery in 2012 but says her mom and Jack are who really created this legacy.
“They’re coming back year after year,” Boscole said. “It was their wedding, then their baby shower, then the birthdays, it just keeps going. We’ve been at the dinner table. We’ve been at the dinner table, and we’ll miss it. We’ll miss being there.”
She said there’s no single reason for closing. Recovering from the pandemic has been hard, and they’ve dealt with property crime at their store like so many others in the city.
They’ve created a real family in the bakery that manager Laura Miles is going to miss seeing every day.
“I’m gonna miss everything. I’ve been here longer than I’ve been in my current actual home. This has been my safe place for a really long time,” Miles said through tears.
When customers heard about the news, they flocked to the store to get one last cake, cookie or piece of chocolate from their picked-over selection, wondering where they’ll go after JaCiva’s is gone.
“We’re crushed to see our beloved bakery going out of business and we’ll be adrift to know how to make those events special,” Singer said. “We’ll be kind of lost in looking for a replacement.”
Boscole said people can still get sweet treats at their bakery until they run out of supplies. She said the best way to know what’s left is to keep an eye on their social media.
They’ll be closed Sept. 17-19, opening back up on Wednesday, Sept. 20 so they can replenish their stock.
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