Locavore's Westside Market Missed Summer. It Opens in Time for Thanksgiving.

"Farmers don't need more passion. They need more sales, and customers want to eat local but access is difficult, especially if they live across town." That is how Nicolle Timm-Branch, executive director of Central Oregon Locavore, explained the nonprofit's second Bend marketplace to The Bulletin in September.

The store opens Thursday, November 19, in Discovery West. The plan had been to open it in summer. Opening in late fall instead puts an indoor marketplace on the westside, open every day, just as winter starts and Thanksgiving shopping begins.

A Store Planned for June

Earlier this year, Central Oregon Daily reported that Locavore had partnered with developer Brooks Resources on a location in Discovery West, just west of NorthWest Crossing. The goal was to open "in time for growing season," late June or early July.

The opening date moved several times before it settled on November 19:

1. 2009: Timm-Branch founds Locavore, which runs as a nonprofit year-round farmers market out of 1841 NE 3rd St.
2. March 9, 2026: The Bulletin reports on the plan for a second shop in northwest Bend.
3. Mid-September 2026: Locavore gets its city permits to begin building. By then it had raised just shy of its original $200,000 goal, and rising construction costs were putting a fall opening at risk.
4. September 22, 2026: The nonprofit says it needs $100,000 more to finish the buildout and open before Thanksgiving.
5. November 3, 2026: Cascade Business News reports that a secured line of credit will let the store open November 19 while fundraising continues.

The store goes from permits to opening day in roughly two months. It is also Locavore's first marketplace expansion in its 17 years.

Why a Grocery Store Needed a Fundraiser

The delay comes down to how Locavore makes money. According to Locavore and Cascade Business News, about 65 cents of every dollar spent there goes directly to local producers, and about 98 cents stays in the regional economy. When so much of each sale goes back to the farm, very little is left over for building a second store.

"The markup that we charge at the marketplace right now is very low, like unheard of in the grocery industry," Timm-Branch told The Bulletin. "We don't make profit at the marketplace so when we want to expand or increase access like this we need to turn to the community to help us."

So the opening date depended on donations and construction costs. Even now, the doors are opening before the buildout is fully paid for. Locavore's Close the Gap campaign is trying to raise $100,000 to finish the buildout and borrow less. As of November 3, the campaign stood at $65,000. An anonymous local foundation has pledged a $20,000 match, and $8,000 more in donations would unlock all of it. Details are on Locavore's Discovery West page.

"We want to invest our resources in growing our impact, not paying down debt," Timm-Branch said in the Cascade Business News announcement.

What Opens on NW Ochoa Drive

The new marketplace is at 1135 NW Ochoa Drive, Suite 100. The Bend Chamber lists the ribbon-cutting for 9:30 a.m. on November 19, and shoppers can come in starting at 10 a.m. On opening day, local farmers, ranchers and makers will hand out samples, and the first 100 shoppers will get prizes.

The shelves will carry locally grown produce, pasture-raised meats, dairy, pantry staples, prepared foods and artisan products. Locavore's network is about 200 regional producers, according to Cascade Business News.

Here is how the two stores compare once both are open:

You don't need a membership to shop at either store. An optional annual membership costs $99.

For the ranches that supply Locavore, the store does the selling so they can stay on the land. "Locavore allows us to focus on what we do best, raising healthy animals, building healthy soil, and growing good grass instead of spending our time marketing and selling," Kelley Burnham of Rickety Bridge Ranch in Redmond told Cascade Business News. Mike Holmes of HolmesStead Ranch told Central Oregon Daily that because the public already knows where Locavore is, "we can sell our products through them quite easily."

The Turkey Count Quadrupled

The clearest sign of how much demand there is in the off-season is the turkey order. Last Thanksgiving, Locavore sold all 25 of its locally raised turkeys in ten days, according to Cascade Business News. This year it has 100.

To reserve a bird, you place a $50 deposit through Locavore's online shop. You choose the size at pickup and pay the rest in the store. The Thanksgiving Meal Kits include local mushrooms, carrots, onions, potatoes, stuffing and other ingredients. A standard kit serves four to six people, and a large kit serves eight to ten. You can pick up your order at either store, and that includes the new one, which opens about a week before the holiday.

Thanksgiving sales also go toward the new building. Cascade Business News reports that strong holiday sales will help Locavore beat its annual operating budget and put more money into the Discovery West buildout.

The Rest of Bend's Winter Local-Food Calendar

After Thanksgiving, two December dates bring more Central Oregon food into Bend:

• Fibonacci Farm winter CSA, December through February. Fibonacci Farm delivers to homes in Bend. A share costs $325 and covers five deliveries, every other Friday from December 11, 2026 to February 26, 2027. The farm caps it at 60 memberships, and signups close when those are taken.
• Locavore's 18th annual Holiday Gift Faire, December 11 and 12. It runs 4 to 7:30 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday at Bend's historic Unitarian Church. More than 80 local vendors are listed. The food vendors on the Gift Faire lineup include Blue River Ferments and Pickles, Cascades Cannery, Sakari Farms, Smith Rock Nut Roasters and The Loving Fungi.

The CSA's first delivery and the Gift Faire both fall on December 11. Between the turkey pickups and that weekend, Bend's two Locavore stores, on NE 3rd Street and NW Ochoa Drive, are open every day from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Timm-Branch told The Bulletin that Locavore will start looking at other parts of town that need better access to local food for a future location. Her earlier description to Central Oregon Daily was a set of neighborhood satellite stores, and Discovery West is the first.

The ranches and farms that stock these stores are part of the Central Oregon land Julie Reber has spent her career with, as an owner of acreage herself and as a broker for others who want to work it. If you're thinking about a place with room for pasture, a garden or a few animals, or about the right next owner for the land you have, let's talk it through over coffee. Schedule a Free Consultation.