Is Voodoo Doughnut a bad actor for picking Sixth Ave?
As news traveled that the drenched-in-pink Portland chain, which purports to be the first shop to have put bacon on a maple bar, would open a Tacoma shop at 2702 6th Ave., expanding its Washington state presence outside of Vancouver and Seattle, so did the opinions.
Commenters on The News Tribune’s story and the Instagram post from Puget Sound Business Journal, which first reported the new location, duly noted that Legendary Doughnuts was literally one block away, on the same side of the street. Permits filed in 2025 revealed that a doughnut shop (an “oasis,” to be precise) was likely to arrive at the old Emerald Leaves space, but as my colleague Debbie Cockrell reported, Voodoo was particularly cryptic in its public documents; she was only able to confirm Tacoma plans through a trusted source.
In an email last year, Legendary co-owner Shannon Patten said she was disconcerted by the geographic choice — even before knowing who was behind it. On Monday, she confirmed knowledge of the Voodoo news. “There is no doubt it will have an impact on us and our employees,” she said in an email…