Big Story Bookstore is Central Oregon’s biggest independent bookstore. Big Story emphasizes attention to artistic design and a thoughtfully curated selection of classic, local, modern fiction, and non-fiction, hot authors, and uncommon books, movies, and vinyl. We currently offer more than 25,000 books most of which are in very good to like new condition, over 2,000 movies, and hundreds of vinyl records to choose from! If we don’t have exactly what you are looking for we can custom order books for you. Books typically arrive in a week or less and we cover the shipping costs.
With Big Story we wanted to create an authentic experience that has a real human element which is warm, comfortable and organized. We thought about what is in our environment when we feel our best and the list includes a well organized and clean space full of books, plants, wood furnishings, comfortable seating, natural lighting, and course a wonderful selection of thoughtfully curated books.
At the start of 2021 Big Story was acquired by Rian & Alyssa Heim. As a result of social unrest, a pandemic, the closure of their business, and feeling worn out from the grind of the big city Rian & Alyssa made the decision to move from their home of 20+ years in Los Angeles to Bend in search of a slower pace, access to nature, and to pursue work that they could look forward to everyday. After taking a job at Big Story, Rian began thinking about what owning and operating the store would look like. After talking with Josh and his wife, Jenna, about the opportunity, the transition of Big Story seemed to make sense for everyone involved. The opportunity for the Heims to own their own bookstore and expand on what Josh had built seemed too amazing to pass up. Locally owned and operated by Rian and Alyssa, Big Story has a bright future and a story that will continue to serve the Bend community.
In 2023 we established a partnership with the Redmond Municipal Airport (RDM) and sponsor their Flybrary! Each month we deliver 10-15 boxes of books that we are unable to use at Big Story. These books are free to the 500,000+ passengers that travel through the airport each year. We work hard to make books available to people and not dumpsters!
In 2017 Big Story was established by Josh Spencer, founder of the world-renowned The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles. Although it’s smaller than The Last Bookstore, visitors to Big Story can expect the same attention to artistic design. The shelves at Big Story include a hand-picked selection of books including classics, popular and uncommon books, plus movies.