Early in the morning of April 14, 2024, fire engulfed the backside of 8102 Railroad Avenue SE, a historic building home to Chickadee Bakeshop, Snoqualmie Ice Cream and Littlest Wishes Photography.
One year later, one of the businesses is operating out of temporary space, two are working to reopen soon, and another has shut down permanently.
The fire was caused by a malfunctioning exterior light fixture, according to the King County fire investigation that followed. The investigation found that the fire started burning around 1 a.m. before being reported around 5 a.m. The King County Assessor valued the property loss at $885,000.
Shortly after the fire, the SnoValley Chamber of Commerce organized a GoFundMe fundraiser with a goal of $50,000. After 592 donations, the fundraiser brought in $63,748, which was split among the affected businesses and their landlord.
“We were amazed at the outpouring from the community,” said Snoqualmie Ice Cream co-owner Heather Dean. “What they did really did help us close up some gaps to be able to very quickly get that temporary shop open that we’re in right now. We’re just in kind of awe of how they responded to the need.”
The GoFundMe fundraiser helped Chickadee Bakeshop secure a lease at 8150 Railroad Ave., formerly the home of Cafe Minee, in May 2024. Since then, co-owners Dorie Ross and Katie Podschwit have been working to make the new space viable and have yet to reopen.
Ross said they are about $125,000 away from opening and have started an online Spotfund fundraiser called *RebuildChickadeeBakeshop to get them there.
Chickadee was driven to start a fundraiser by “customers contacting us and asking when we were going to open and what they needed to do,” Ross said. “And then when I would explain that we just didn’t have enough, they were like, well then do a [fundraiser].”
The main roadblock for the bakeshop has been securing proper power to the building, which has been delayed multiple times.
Donated funds will allow the businesses to purchase essential baking equipment as well as initial ingredients and supplies to get baking again. At the time of publication, the Spotfund had received about $15,300.
Ideally, Ross said, Chickadee would meet its fundraising goal by the end of the month. After that, she said it’s up to the health department when the doors will open.
“Katie and I were joking yesterday about the fact that the traditional one year anniversary ‘present’ is paper,” Ross wrote in a recent Facebook post. “Money is made from paper, and we definitely need more of that to get reopened.”
Snoqualmie Ice Cream has been operating out of 8125 Falls Ave. SE, on the backside of its original location, since June 2024. Its owners hope to move back into the original space by the start of summer, though they are at the whims of a construction timeline.
After months spent obtaining permitting, demolition on the space took place last fall. Since then, they’ve been working to repair and rebuild, and, like Chickadee’s owners, they’re still working through an insurance claim.
Snoqualmie Ice Cream did not sustain fire damage, but sustained heavy water and smoke damage.
“Inside of the front of the shop, when we walked in, it had probably a good four to six inches of water sitting in it,” Dean said. “The water was just pouring out the front door as the firefighters were working to save the building.”
While the shop’s owners have been grateful for a temporary location to move into, Dean said sales were down last summer, and winter was a tough season as well. She largely credits this to the temporary location not being as noticeable to passersby.
The remaining affected business, Littlest Wishes Photography, is no longer in business. On Oct. 25, 2024, owner of Littlest Wishes Photography Jaime Phon-Daniel posted on the business’s Facebook page to update followers on her portrait studio.
“It is with a broken heart that I’m announcing that Littlest Wishes Photography will not be re-opening,” she wrote.
She added that this choice was not one she made, but one that was “forced upon me when my insurance policy was not renewed in July.” She went on to explain that she had spent months trying to obtain business insurance with no success after having two insurance companies decline to renew her previous policies.
“While I’m sad and angry about the situation, I am so extremely thankful for the seven years I had running my small business,” she wrote. “I have always bragged about having the best clients, and I’m going to miss all of you so much.”
