Teague Hatfield has owned the Birkenstock-Bend Shoe Co store on NW Wall Street for a decade. That store has a long history in downtown Bend, originally opening in 1976. Hatfield and co-owner Tori Oshel opened the eastside location off NE Highway 20 in the Forum Shopping Center four years ago. Together, the stores have 26 employees.
“We’re a classic comfort shoe store,” said Hatfield, who has a long history in the local shoe scene. He worked at a shoe store during college, which is when he started thinking of it as a viable future in business.
“I look at shoes as a tool, but then I also have that side of my life where you like design and you like beauty and all the cool stuff,” he says. Hatfield opened FootZone Bend in 1995 and later opened Outside In, both of which he sold.
Dozens of brands are sold at the stores including Birkenstock, Blundstone, Dansko, Hoka, Taos, Ugg and much more. One of the most popular brands, Birkenstock, is made in Germany, and other shoes in the store are manufactured in Spain, affected by tariffs, but Hatfield says, customers are still buying. “It’s been a big deal as far as it’s made shoes more expensive, for sure,” he says. Nonetheless, he continues, “business has been very strong.”
“The eastside location has definitely grown,” Oshel says. “It feels like people are figuring out that we’re here, which is fun.” Oshel started as an employee but started buying into an ownership opportunity several years ago.
In a promotional video, Hatfield says, “I put shoe stores on the same pedestal as coffee shops and bike shops, and great bookstores and things that just define a community and define a place.”
“It can make an experience better. It can make a trip better if you have footwear that works for you,” Oshel says.
“Best Shoe Store” is a new category this year, and the Bend Shoe Co. won right out of the gate. “We put a lot of heart into it,” Hatfield says. “We care a lot about running a local, independent business. We put a lot of energy in. We both love shoes, to be perfectly honest, and we’re of different generations, so we bring some different perspectives to it. And we have an amazing staff that chooses to be here.”
Both Oshel and Hatfield love shoes so much, they each own more than 50 pairs.
“They’re in all my closets,” Oshel confesses.
“My wife would tell you, there are bins in the garage that she doesn’t know what’s in there, and it’s probably a good thing,” Hatfield laughs.
Both he and Oshel are grateful to Source readers who voted for them. “Thank you, Central Oregon. It was really flattering and super fun,” Hatfield says.
Runner-Up: FootZone
Bend Shoe Co
Mon-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 11am-5pm
Downtown: 836 NW Wall St., Bend
Eastside: 2680 Hwy 20,Ste 320, Bend
bendshoeco.com/
This article appears in Best of Central Oregon 2026 and the Source August 13, 2026.
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