Cascades Beaver gear can now be found on campus. Andrew Davis, the coordinator of Student Life at Oregon State University Cascades, and a group of students came up with an idea to take a trailer and turn it into a moving store that would sell only OSU-Cascade gear.
“We had a space issue at  the OSU-Cascade building and we solved that by making it mobile,” Davis said about the decision to make the store inside of a trailer.
Kaycee Robinson
The Broadside

When Davis was trying to find a student that was willing to head the operation, Stephanie Warner, a business administration major at OSU-Cascades, decided to take up the project and run with it.
“No other retailer in the world, not even the Corvallis campus, has OSU-Cascades gear,” said Warner. Davis believes that it is important that the store sells OSU-Cascade items specifically because it adds to the community aspect of OSU-Cascades.
“People chose to come to the OSU-Cascades branch instead of going to Corvallis for a reason,” Davis said.
Warner had no prior experience in running a business, but she soon hired two other students to help with the project. One of Warner’s tasks included buying items to sell at the trailer.
“Bend in general is so different,” said Warner. “People are looking for active wear.”
Warner tries to stick with local trends that “look cool” and meet the needs of Central Oregonians. Warner also likes to buy everything local. One way she is keeping it local is by adding Hydro Flask water bottles to the store.
“I have to buy such small amounts it is more expensive but I have been able to keep the prices down,” Warner said.
The gear store took months of working day and night to make it into a functioning store, according to Warner. The store opened on June 15, 2012 and at that time the items were displayed on a table in front of the trailer because they had not been able to cut out the concession window. By September, the store was completed. The store sells decals, mugs, sweatshirts, shirts, sunglasses, ski masks, snow gloves, and all types of hats. The prices range from $2.50 to $50.00.
“My hope is that it can be a tangible store when [OSU-Cascades] moves to a four-year school, but I hope that they keep the trailer,” Warner said.
Warner herself will be graduating in March.
“This is kind of my sendoff present,” Warner said about the store.
Even though the trailer is constantly moving, it is always behind the OSU-Cascade building on Tuesdays from 1-4 and on Thursdays from 10-4 during winter term. The store updates regularly with times and locations they are open on their Facebook page.
(Contact: [email protected])