In May, the long-standing Portland outdoor gear store Next Adventure announced that they were closing after 28 years in business. At the time, the plan was to shutter all four locations by the fall, but now two will stay open as part of a new structure that will emphasize “local ownership with employee participation.”

“We’re super excited that we have some local investors that have agreed to come on and keep the Next Adventure legacy alive,” said co-founder Deek Heykamp. “They’ll be working on an ownership program with our key management staff.”

Heykamp founded the outdoor shop with childhood friend Bryan Knudsen in 1997 and said the pair would stay on for a few months to help the transition.

“These new investors have some great creative ideas on how to cement Next Adventure’s legacy in the Portland area,” said Haykamp. “We talk about employee ownership, yes there will be ways that employees can contribute and become members, but also the general public... We’re looking to take an iconic local store to the next level so it truly is a community store.”

Under this new model of ownership, the Grand and Sandy Next Adventure locations will stay open, but the Scappoose Bay Paddle Center will have its next adventure re-branded as "The Paddle Shack." New owners Cody James Pace and Bri Eckenrodt took over that location at the start of October.

“I just so happened to be leaving my career of 24 years, and we were planning to open a business in Scappoose, wanting to do something where we’re outdoors and we could gather the community,” said Cody James Pace. “Knowing how much we love paddling at Scappoose Bay, I looked at [my wife] Bri and I said, ‘I think this is it. I think this is what we’re looking for and our opportunity.’ ”

The pair live in Scappoose, just a few minutes down the road, and once they heard Next Adventure was closing, Pace said they sprang into action.

“I said, ‘We’ve got to drive down there right now and find out what the plan is. What are they gonna do?’” said Pace.

OPB’s “All Things Considered” host Crystal Ligori spoke with Pace and Heykamp about the transition of ownership for the Scappoose location.

Crystal Ligori: Cody James, what made you want to buy the shop in the first place?

Cody James Pace: I just so happened to be leaving my career of 24 years, and we were planning to open a business in Scappoose, wanting to do something where we’re outdoors and we could gather the community. And knowing how much we love paddling at Scappoose Bay, I looked at [my wife] Bri and I said, “I think this is it. I think this is what we’re looking for and our opportunity.”

I went home and drafted an email and sent it off and got a reply within eight minutes. And, sorry for the cliché, but the rest is history. That first call was really wonderful because of all the ideas that we had about what Scappoose Bay could be, what the paddling center could be, and ways that we could help it grow. Deek had the same ideas of things that he wanted to do and just never had the opportunities.

Ligori: What are some of those ideas?

Pace: One is really expanding upon the community aspect there. So we have a lot of paddlers that come out, but there’s a really large fishing community that comes through there, there’s an RV campground there at the marina as well and then there’s also the marina houseboats, the people that actually live there.

So, some of the things we want to do is create an outdoor covered space that we can have events where we can have people gather. Hopefully, we’re gonna have a food truck or food options there available, potentially in the future a taproom, but we really want it to be somewhere where the community can gather.

Ligori: One thing that I saw that had caught my eye was ADA accessible launches?

Pace: Yes, that’s something new. This whole process was done in a very short period of time and it really all came together with tremendous support from the community, especially from the Port of Columbia County. When I met with them and were talking about different things that we wanted to do at the marina and they let me know that they had an ADA accessible launch sitting in storage that had never been installed.

That was really important to us because we have some really close friends that are near and dear to us, our friend Steve, who had a stroke a few years ago. He’s much more able to get around now, but when we shared that with him and his wife, they were just ecstatic. Especially for the community that they’re with, stroke survivors and others that are disabled, to be able to go out and enjoy the bay is very special. To get out into nature and you’re right there with eagles and osprey and sturgeon jumping out of the water. It’s a pretty special place. So we’re really excited about the ADA launch.

Ligori: Deek, what does it mean for you to hand the keys over for a place that does feel so special?

Deek Heykamp: It’s exactly what we would have dreamt of, the fact that Cody James and Bri are so passionate about what it means to the community [and understand] how important that resource is. Columbia County has told us that we are the biggest tourism draw for all of Columbia County, and so there’s a lot of economic benefits that we wanted to make sure kept on with the legacy and that the community benefited from.

It really means a ton knowing how the Port of St. Helens, Columbia County and the tourism bureau, everyone has just been so incredibly supportive to keep this resource going in a great way. It’s something that I can definitely say that I’ll be proud of as we finish our career.

The Paddle Shack in Scappoose opened earlier this month. The ownership transition at the Grand Ave and Sandy Next Adventure locations will start Nov. 1.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/10/21/portland-next-adventure-outdoor-store-new-ownership/