Shoppers stroll through the Old Mill District Monday afternoon, including new businesses that have attracted more foot traffic.

A van lifer’s cookbook, a beer can-shaped candle with the aroma of a Spruce Double IPA, Western-style Pendleton blankets, as well as tea towels, stickers, shirts, and mugs adorned with prints of tree rings or topographical maps.

These are just a few of the items available at the one of Old Mill District’s newest businesses, Budd + Finn, an upscale souvenir shop from Portland that embraces the character of the Pacific Northwest.

Despite minimal marketing efforts, the store is struggling to keep up with the high demand for some items. Anything having to do with Sasquatch or whiskey “flies off the shelf,” said Victor Ortado, Budd + Finn’s assistant manager.

Local and regional businesses like Budd + Finn, alongside a renewed interest among shoppers to participate in in-person events, have become the driving force behind Old Mill’s current success, said Beau Eastes, the Old Mill District’s marketing director.

With the easing of pandemic restrictions, this growing emphasis on in-person experiences has helped propel the shopping destination out of the economic downturn following the pandemic.

Kara’s Kitchenware offers cooking classes on dishes like coconut shrimp with honey mustard sauce, gochujang meatballs and potato caviar bites.

Confluence Fly Shop not only sells flies, rods and tackle, but also offers guided fly fishing tours and casting classes along the Deschutes River. The owner, Tye Krueger, recently remodeled the store in hopes of attracting more customers. Now, the revamped space includes a bar with rotating craft beer and an outdoor patio to host fly tying events.

“It’s relatively new and we’re creating more ways to build community around our activity,” said Lafe Petersen, who is training to become the store’s new general manager.

“You know, we may be one of the only bars in town where the person behind the bar is going to be really psyched to see your fish picture. I spend 30 or 40 minutes chatting with them about fly fishing, about Bend, which that wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t have the bar. They would have come in, bought their product and left.”

In-person experiences for customers

With the easing of pandemic restrictions, it’s this growing emphasis on providing in-person experiences that has helped propel the shopping destination out of the economic downturn following the pandemic.

At Confluence Fly Shop, customers can take casting lessons, then relax at the bar, catch a game and work on their fly tying skills with the owner, Eastes said.

“That’s an experience,” he said. “It’s not something you can replicate at a lot of other places.”

Old Mill shopping district feature local businesses

Old Mill is an outlier among shopping centers because of its deliberate support for local businesses. Around 40% of the shops in Old Mill are either local or regional establishments, a stark contrast to other shopping centers nationwide where typically only around 10% of the businesses are local, Eastes said.

The Old Mill also organizes holiday events. Santa arrived at the Old Mill in a helicopter the day after Thanksgiving, courtesy of the Deschutes County Search and Rescue Team. Families can take photos with Santa every weekend of this month.

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The annual menorah lighting event at the Old Mill took place Dec. 7. Groups of carolers will perform throughout the month, and on Dec. 15, Tumalo Creek Kayak & Canoe will host its annual holiday-themed paddle parade along the Deschutes River.

“What can you do at the Old Mill that you can’t get on Amazon, right?” Eastes said.

Although online shopping and the pandemic have transformed a retail industry once dominated by large department stores, Bend’s Old Mill district has no problem attracting larger retailers, like REI or Anthropologie.

There’s little to no vacancy at the shopping district, and with Central Oregon attracting millions of visitors annually, a major retailer is going to be more inclined to establish a store in Bend when compared to other larger cities in Oregon, Eastes said.

Kayli Klasa enjoys both the larger retailers and the local shops. This is her first winter in Bend, and she was buying an avalanche beacon and comparing different models of ski touring backpacks in REI, she said. She moved to Bend after a couple of her college friends moved here, and said she’s excited to begin pursing backcountry skiing in the Sisters.

“The (REI) location is great, and I really enjoy the Sisters Coffee shop,” Klasa said.