(Bend UpStyle owners (left to right) Randy, Jeanette and Jeremy Wright are preparing to open their new location | Photo Courtesy of Randy Wright)
When Randy Wright and his stepmom, Jeanette Wright, were new to Bend, they enjoyed shopping at Bend UpStyle, a unique store that offers new and custom as well as pre-owned furniture items. “When we moved to Bend, I got out of education and was looking for something else to do, and my stepmom was an ER nurse looking for something else to do,” says Randy Wright. “We were shopping at Bend UpStyle and started chatting with the owners. They told us they were moving to Texas, and we thought, ‘Oh no! What’s going to happen to UpStyle?’
Wright says that when they found out the owners were putting the business up for sale, he and his stepmom decided to buy it. That was in January 2018, and the two of them have been business partners ever since; Randy serving as head of HR and Accounting and Jeanette as Purchasing Specialist. “We were customers first, then owners,” he says. “Since then, we brought my brother, Jeremy, on as general manager. He moved here from Boise. We now have ten employees. Three of us are family by blood, and the rest of us feel like family. We are a tight-knit group.”
Bend UpStyle had three locations: showrooms located at 500 Greenwood Avenue and at 1255 NE 3rd Street, plus a warehouse. But three years into owning the business, Wright says their leases were coming up for renewal, so they opted to move. “We decided to combine the three sites into one nicer, bigger location. It’s an upgrade for us, and we are consolidating expenses,” he says. “During this COVID era, I think everyone is trying to consolidate expenses. We are very excited about our new location.”
Wright says it was challenging for them to be shut down for two months during the early days of the pandemic, and that they struggled through that time. “But the community response after reopening has been tremendous. Industry wide, retail has really rebounded,” he says. “The remaining challenge has been getting inventory; it’s hard to get anything. Everything takes a long time to come in, but our customers have been patient.” He adds, “The pre- owned furniture is a little easier to come by. People are ready to get rid of the couch they’ve been sitting on for the past year and to get a new one,” he says with a laugh.
Wright and his family members enjoy running a small business together, he says, and they are firm believers in giving back to the community. They donate furniture for charity auctions, and have helped local schools. “Being a small business, it’s wonderful to be able to employ about ten employees, and to be able to pay our vendors. It’s pretty cool to be able to keep that sustained and alive throughout COVID and in the fluctuations of retail, as well as to be able to give back to the community.”
Bend UpStyle’s new location, at 61471 S Hwy. 97 near Fred Meyer, opened on February 22.
