Just after 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 26, Micah Ritschard drove home from his engineering job in Hillsboro. He met his wife, Jordyn, in the left suite of the Blue Trout Gallery on College Street. The walls had been deep purple, the backdrop for Gary Buhler's watercolors and acrylics. Jordyn had spent several days covering them in white to match the branding of Gooseberry Açaí. Across the street, the Newberg Wednesday Market was busy, and people walking down College kept leaning in to ask what was going on.
That storefront opened three days later. It belongs to a small group of 2026 openings that have quietly changed what a walk through downtown Newberg looks like. Each one moved into a room that something else had left. Their posted hours don't line up, though, which splits the newest part of downtown into a morning half and an evening half. This fall, the calendar brings the two halves together on only a few dates.
Rooms Something Else Left Behind
These openings are new tenants in old space, not new construction.
Gooseberry's suite came free when Buhler moved Blue Trout Gallery to the alley side of the building at 111 S. College St. That space had held Uflora Plant Shop until it closed in 2023. Jordyn Ritschard has lived in Newberg since 2015, and she told Newsberg why they chose this block:
"I've heard a lot of pessimism about downtown since 2020. So when we were looking for locations, we wanted to be here — we wanted to be a reason that someone comes downtown."
Two blocks away, Wolves & People Farmhouse Brewery turned an empty garage at 107 N. Meridian St. into a bar and music venue. The work included new electrical, a walk-in cooler and a tap wall. The project was announced in June 2025 with plans to open that year. Delays with construction, permits and licensing pushed the soft opening to June 25, 2026.
On Sherman Street, MAE took over the warehouse next to its shop at 115 E. Sherman St. after Miss Hannah's Gourmet Popcorn moved out in late July. Owner Jennifer Engelman had asked the landlord for first right of refusal on the space. She moved products in within days of Miss Hannah's leaving. Miss Hannah's didn't leave downtown. Its production and offices moved to a 4,000-square-foot warehouse two blocks away.
Even the openings that didn't need a remodel follow the pattern. KOJA Ramen and Bulgogi at 605 E. First St. got a new owner on April 15, and he plans to keep the established menu while refining it. Corner Gifts opened May 1 at 300 E. First St., at S. Washington, with gifts, plants, home goods, collectibles and free coffee or tea. When the building at 503 E. First St. was listed for sale in September, Harvest Moon Sangria Bar owner Julianna "Jules" Moseley said the listing didn't include her business. She plans to keep operating there under her current lease.
The Morning Half
Two of this year's additions keep mostly morning hours.
Gooseberry Açaí lists Tuesday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and hours may change when its cart is booked for a special event. The owners said the timing of the move was partly about the season. As summer turns into a crisp fall and then a rainy winter, keeping up momentum outdoors gets harder. Everything they serve is gluten-free. The menu stays the same for now, and they plan to add options once a kitchen build-out is finished.
MAE is open for retail Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. This is the first time the storefront has been open regularly since Engelman bought the business in early 2025. You can order online and pick up in the store, which also sells discounted products with small cosmetic flaws from hand-batching. Engelman's advice to anyone who finds the door shut: "I want people to know that they can come and open this door, even if the sign says 'closed' by accident. Knock on the door."
There's seasonal news here too. MAE's Studio Series is a line of limited-release candles. The first one sold out in small batches, and Engelman described the second as more fall-oriented, due later this season. The company has also made a custom scent line for The Allison Inn & Spa. Candles in that scent will be sold in the hotel's retail section.
Put those hours side by side and the morning window gets small:
- Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.: both Gooseberry and MAE are open.
- Saturday morning: Gooseberry only.
- Monday morning: MAE only.
- Sunday: neither lists hours.
The Evening Half
Wolves & People's downtown bar opens later in the day. In June, owner Christian DeBenedetti said he was aiming for Wednesday through Sunday, 4 to 11 p.m. He also said hours would stay in flux while the bar ran under a special events permit and finished details with the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. Check before you go. Newsberg's June story also said the bar's name might change, though the brewery's site still calls it the Downtown Bar & Music Hall.
The bar has 15 taps. One is for nitro beers, and another has a Czech Lukr faucet for pouring European lagers with a dense, wet foam cap. Unlike the farmhouse tasting room, the downtown space has a full bar. Food comes from Briar Ridge BBQ, which brings Texas-style barbecue. It serves a limited menu until it can build out and move into the building's kitchen. DeBenedetti has said he wants touring musicians traveling the Interstate 5 corridor to see the room as a place to stop and play.
KOJA and Harvest Moon fill out the evening side of First Street. On a Saturday evening, that means the newest downtown is a ramen and bulgogi counter, a sangria bar and a bluegrass room. The açaí bowls and candles on College and Sherman have already closed for the day.
October 2 Is When the Two Halves Meet
Friday, Oct. 2, is the one day this fall when the morning and evening sides of downtown run back to back.
At 10 a.m., the 32nd Art Harvest Studio Tour opens across Yamhill County. Fifty artists in Amity, McMinnville, Dayton, Newberg, Dundee and Carlton open their studios from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 2–4 and again Oct. 9–11. You'll need a $10 entry button, sold at every studio and at select Yamhill County shops. Look for bright yellow lawn signs with an arrow and a bird.
One returning artist is Ken Trox, who makes wood and mixed-media pieces. Newsberg gives his studio address as 115 E. Sherman St., the same street address as MAE, so check the tour map for which door to use. Trox spent more than 30 years in graphic design, including packaging for G.I. Joe and Transformers. Today he makes wood lamps, tree-of-life lanterns and signs.
The tour's Friday hours end at 5 p.m., just as the First Friday Art Walk begins. From 5 to 8 p.m., downtown businesses and galleries team up with local artists for art, music and tastings. The same night, Wolves & People's calendar lists the Great North String Band at 7 p.m. A Friday morning bowl on College Street, studio stops in the afternoon and the Art Walk into the evening covers most of what's new downtown in a single day.
The Rest of the Fall Calendar
Wolves & People's events page has no publish date, so confirm each listing before you plan around it.
- Oct. 3–4 and Oct. 9–11, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.: the remaining Art Harvest Studio Tour days.
- Saturday, Oct. 10: Wolves & People Oktoberfest party, noon to 5 p.m., followed by The Get Tight at 7 p.m.
- Friday, Oct. 30: a Halloween party with Blind Stampede and a costume contest, 4 to 10 p.m.
- Friday, Nov. 6: the November First Friday Art Walk, plus Fox Creek Bluegrass at 7 p.m. on Meridian. The Newberg Downtown Coalition's schedule says Nov. 7, which is a Saturday this year. Travel Oregon lists Nov. 6, so confirm with the Coalition before you go.
- Saturday, Nov. 7: Jackson Warner & The Damn Well Please, 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 14: Josh Cole Band, 7 p.m.
- Friday, Nov. 20, and Saturday, Nov. 21: Hood Mountain Band, then Jody Carroll Trio, both at 7 p.m.
- Friday, Dec. 4: the next Art Walk after November.
Gooseberry plans to add seating, and MAE plans to start hosting candle-making and perfume-roller workshops in its new warehouse. Neither project has a date yet. After the Nov. 21 show, the next date on the downtown calendar is the Dec. 4 Art Walk.
Like Newberg's new shop owners, Shelley Lucas pays close attention to how a space is put to use. If living a few blocks from First Street has you wondering what your own home could become, or what it's worth, Right‑Size Your Life: book a free consultation.
