NORTHEAST BROADWAY could use a little shine. With East Burnside and the west end of downtown on everybody's lips, it's nice to see that new-store buzz still catch on Portland's trustier old thoroughfares. And Broadway's latest acquisition is a bona fide get: Rachael Donaldson of Demimonde jewelry has spent the past two years as part of the collective behind boutique/studio Haunt, one of the crown jewels of the 811 E Burnside building. Now, she is opening Demimonde boutique, mixing her own designs with a jumble of vintage and other Portland designers. As of press time, Demimonde was due to swing its door open for the first time on Wednesday, September 12.

"It was a bittersweet decision," Donaldson says of her decision to exit Haunt, where she'd been partnered with Seaplane co-founder Holly Stalder and author/designer Laura Irwin Flores, and which will continue to sell her designs. "Both mine and Holly's needs at the location were changing and it just felt like the right time... Haunt was an invaluable learning experience that gave me the courage to take the next step."

There is no retail experience more satisfying than a small, personal space curated by an interesting, inquisitive person of good taste, and Donaldson's increasingly elaborate and impressive jewelry designs bode well for Demimonde's environment. To start, she'll be joining her pieces with excerpts from Sword + Fern, Julia Barbee, Haunt's Flores, LA/Portland jewelry and watch design firm Upper Metal Class, small-batch soaps and apothecary from Maak Soap Lab, letterpress by Studio Olivine, and products from pattern design studio Pattern People. "It's going to be the quirky little boutique I've dreamed of," promises Donaldson. Demimonde, 2428 NE Broadway, demimondejewelry.com