A mug of coffee cools on a small table in the upstairs study area as a reader flips through a paperback, the low sound of conversation drifting up from the shop below. Between tall shelves of novels and staff-curated displays, employees greet customers and point them toward new releases or old favorites. At Dudley’s Bookshop Cafe in Bend, the mix of books, drinks and familiar faces has turned the independent bookstore into a place where people linger, stopping to read, study and discuss stories rather than rushing out.

Currently, the bookstore is preparing for a new chapter. Owners Tom Beans and Amy Rose are opening a second location in the Old Mill District, bringing Dudley’s signature mix of books, coffee and community to a new part of town.

For Beans, his love for books began early. One of his first memories of reading was an illustrated copy of James and the Giant Peach.

“As a really young kid, the first book I ever remember being just so drawn to was an illustrated edition of James and the Giant Peach,” Beans said. “I would just stare at that and reread it and reread it.”

His fascination with literature eventually led him to seek a job in the bookselling industry. 

“My first job in bookselling was working for Tower Books and Records,” Beans said. “Back in the ’80s and ’90s, Tower Records was this iconic business.”

But Dudley’s did not grow from a love of books alone. For Rose, the idea of a bookstore cafe was shaped by years working in coffee shops and dreaming about owning a place of her own.

“My love for this place started mostly in the coffee world,” Rose said. “I’ve been working in coffee for 18 years on and off. I remember being 10 years old in my little bookstore coffee shop in my hometown and thinking, ‘I want to own one of these one day.’”

Over the years, Rose worked in different coffee environments, learning the ins and outs of customer service and cafe culture. These experiences shaped the kind of workplace she wanted to build.

Even as a co-owner, she said she sometimes faces challenges that come with running a business as a woman.

“People walk in here and assume I’m an idiot,” Rose explained. “And I’ll say, ‘Hey, what can I do for you?’ and they’ll say, ‘Oh, I just want to talk to Tom.’”

Still, moments like these haven’t discouraged her from building the community she envisioned at Dudley’s.

“I had terrible managers who didn’t really care about their employees or their influence in the community,” Rose said. “Here, I get to be the boss that I wanted, the boss I needed at different eras of my life.”

That philosophy helped shape Dudley’s into more than just a store. Employees serve both as baristas and booksellers, creating a collaborative atmosphere where conversations about coffee and literature happen simultaneously.

Part of Dudley’s charm comes from its atmosphere, something both owners have worked carefully to create. The combination of books, coffee and the character of an older building gives the store a feeling that many customers describe as comforting.

“It’s the books and the coffee mixed together,” Rose said. “And also a very old building, the old brick, the old wood, the ghosts that hang out in the building. There’s a magical moment that happens when all of that comes together.”

That sense of warmth is something the owners intentionally design.

“For me, cozy is everything,” Rose said. “It’s really important to feel warm and peaceful and at ease when you step into a place. Retail isn’t usually like that, but a bookstore is a place where you can really do that.”

Inside Dudley’s, shelves are arranged with care, staff recommendations are displayed prominently and soft lighting creates an inviting space for readers to linger. Beans says creating that atmosphere extends to the way books are chosen for the store.

Rather than simply filling shelves with bestsellers, he personally curates many of the titles, choosing books he believes will resonate with the community. Those conversations often lead to book recommendations, something Beans enjoys as much as running the business itself.

As Dudley’s prepares to open its new location in the Old Mill District, the owners are working to recreate that atmosphere in a new setting.

However since the new location will be a lot smaller than the downtown Dudley’s – only around 900 square feet – the store will start off just selling books with hope to expand to a coffee shop in the future. Despite this the owners hope to continue the comfortable space that they built at their downtown location.

“It’s going to have a similar warm, cozy feeling,” Beans said. “We’re using mostly natural wood tones.”

The design will also incorporate recycled materials from historic mill buildings in the area.

“We’re trying to incorporate as many recycled materials from the original mill buildings that we have access to,” Beans said.

The new location sits near the Deschutes River trail, something that may give the store a slightly different personality.

“Right out the back door is the river trail,” Beans said. “So it’ll have a different energy and a different feel. Frankly, we’re all kind of curious about what it’s going to be too. We won’t know until we get in there.”

For Rose, the expansion isn’t simply about growing the business, it’s also about responding to the realities of running a small, independent bookstore.

“You can have the most well-curated store and the best employees and the perfect playlist and the right smells and everything else,” Rose said. “But the success of an independent bookstore is fully dependent on the community it’s planted in. People either choose to shop there or they don’t.”

That reliance on community support makes opening a second location both exciting and nerve-racking.

“It’s not like we’re doing so well we just have all this extra money to grow,” Rose said. “Downtown Bend is uncertain. The economy is uncertain. Small businesses are uncertain.”

Even the publishing industry itself has faced challenges, from economic shifts to debates about book bans.

Despite those unknowns, Beans believes independent bookstores still play an important role, especially as more people begin to step away from constant screen time.

“A thousand percent,” he said when asked if younger generations are returning to reading. “You guys have lived your entire lives in front of screens, and everyone is starting to feel like something about that isn’t right.”

Beans says many people are now craving more tangible experiences.

“There’s this craving for analog,” he said. “That’s why vinyl records are becoming popular again. I even fell down that rabbit hole myself.”

For Beans and Rose, books offer something that technology often interrupts, the ability to slow down and experience stories directly.

“So many people experience their lives through their phones now,” Beans said. “Taking pictures, filming everything, looking things up instead of thinking about them.”

Inside Dudley’s, however, the pace is different. Customers browse collections, sip coffee and lose themselves in stories, something the owners aspire to continue when the new location opens.

As the bookstore prepares to expand into the Old Mill District, Beans and Rose hope Dudley’s will continue offering what it always has: a place where readers can step inside, slow down and find community among the shelves.