MudPuddles ending 47-year toy store tradition at NW 23rd and Kearney
Kate Noreen, who spent eight years in that space, will close shop on July 20
Kate Noreen once dreamed of running her own store in Nob Hill. She got her wish, but the dream slipped away.
“I went to Portland State and I lived here in the ’80s,” Noreen said. “Owning a small business on Northwest 23rd was the ultimate goal.”
MudPuddles Toys & Books is closing July 20 after eight years at 2305 NW Kearney St. A toy store has been in this space since Child’s Play opened in 1978.
“I held on for a long time, even after the pandemic,” she said. “I thought people will want to come back, to go shopping and go to restaurants.
“When Kornblatt’s closed, that shook me, because they’d been here forever. And then Santa Fe [Taqueria] and then McMenamins, and I thought, I don’t like this direction at all.
“This location relies on tourism, but tourism has not come back to Portland as it was [when] summer would bring a big bump.
“I have a great landlord, but as the rent goes up, sales haven’t been going up. 2024 was flat. Yet my expenses keep going up. So the main reason is financial,” she said.
It’s not the end of her business.
“I have a location in Sherwood, and my rent is half the cost per square foot there. But this is Northwest 23rd, right? I get that.”
Not many children live in the Northwest District.
“There are fewer kids,” Noreen acknowledged. “Is that a reflection of the neighborhood, of our city? More than half the population in Sherwood is under 18, so it’s a great place to have a toy store. There are five elementary schools within a 5-mile radius of the Sherwood store,” which she’s owned for 26 years.
Didn’t President Trump say we may be in the “two-doll” era?
“We try to be politics free, but the tariffs have been wreaking havoc,” she said.“Honestly, it didn’t force this decision, but it made me thankful for the timing. I have a store full of pre-tariff product that I’m shifting to the other location. Tariffs make overhead higher, and 85 percent of our inventory is from China. Some of my vendors have shifted manufacturing to Sri Lanka or Vietnam, but there’s no way to avoid this.”
She retains fond memories of the 23rd Avenue store: “These are PSU students who walk here. So many celebrations for our customers on birthdays, or they’ve just came from a doctor’s appointment or the kids just need a potty break. When you shop local, you hear peoples’ stories. Some people come in when they’re having an off day because this is a joyful place.”
Stuffed animals are her biggest sales category.
“Since COVID, it’s a texture thing, an emotion and tactile thing,” she said.
As if on cue, a little girl walked out of the store, her little arms wrapped around a stuffed black lab.
It’s not all gloom and doom on 23rd Avenue. National retailer Eileen Fisher is opening next door, and Arc’teryx has moved down the block temporarily while its space at 23rd and Hoyt is transformed.
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What a real shame. I just moved out of NW, after 14 yrs living and working in NW. The drugs and lawlessness were just too much.
There are neighborhood locations in the metro area with LARGE amounts of children and schools, including the apt where I now live, on Woodstock Blvd. In fact, I don't remember seeing so many children in any other part of town. And a few empty storefronts as well. I wonder if this would be a great area to move your shop to?