Hamley & Co. Hamley & Co. Western Store has been in the same location in downtown Pendleton since 1905. (Samantha Swindler/Samantha Swindler/ The Oregonian)
As the 113th Round-Up approaches, no trip to Pendleton is complete without a visit to Hamley & Co., the century-old western store, steakhouse and saloon that takes up an imposing block of downtown. Trophy Display Stand
But four years ago, the iconic business was in debt and its future in doubt. That’s when the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation stepped in and purchased Hamley & Co. at auction. Today, its operations are managed by Wildhorse Resort and Casino.
Wildhorse CEO Gary George said the purchase was a chance to keep Hamley & Co. in local hands and give the Tribes a presence in downtown Pendleton.
“It’s a corner property right on Main Street,” George said. “It commands a large part of this block, and so it gave us a presence. That was a big driving force, to think about how we can work with the Pendleton community and develop a business here that benefits all of us.”
Hats at the Hamley & Co. Western Store in downtown Pendleton are shaped for each customer's head, and also cleaned by staff. (Samantha Swindler/Samantha Swindler/ The Oregonian)
Hamley & Co. was founded as a harness and saddle maker in 1883 by brothers John James (J.J.) and Henry Hamley in Ashton, South Dakota. After three years, the Hamleys relocated to Kendrick, Idaho, where Henry Hamley died and the store burned down.
In 1905, looking for a fresh start, J.J. Hamley moved to Pendleton, where he opened a shop at the corner of First Street and Court Avenue, the storefront that still stands today.
J.J. Hamley helped organize the first Pendleton Round-Up in 1910, and over the decades, the company has produced more than 80 Round-Up trophy saddles. George said the Tribes’ connection to Hamley dates to those early years.
The flag of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation hangs above an archway at Hamley & Co. Western Store. (Samantha Swindler/Samantha Swindler/ The Oregonian)
“A lot of our tribal lands are harvested in wheat, and so some of our tribal members would get royalties from wheat production and the sale of it,” George said. “Hamley would help tribal members out by giving them a loan to carry them until the payments came in September or August.”
Three generations of the Hamley family ran the company until 1980, when Portland businessman John Rian purchased the building and the business.
In 2005, Parley Pearce and Blair Woodfield, two veterinarians based in Walla Walla, Washington, bought Hamley & Co. and began an ambitious $2.5 million renovation and expansion. They opened the upscale Hamley Steakhouse, with banquet rooms and a saloon, in 2007, at an estimated cost of $4 million.
The interior of Hamley Steakhouse & Saloon. (Samantha Swindler/Samantha Swindler/ The Oregonian)
But the two partners soon disagreed on the direction of the business. George said the Tribes were ready to buy Hamley & Co. back in 2016.
“We conducted our analysis and were prepared to buy the property outright at what the owners had requested,” George said, “but the owners themselves started feuding.”
Woodfield wanted to sell, but Pearce did not. The ensuing legal battle went on for years. By 2018, the company was more than $1 million in debt and facing bankruptcy, The East Oregonian reported.
Eventually, the owners agreed to liquidate their assets. In July 2019, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation bought the business at auction for $3.55 million.
“August through December of 2019, those were good months for us,” George said. “We returned a profit during that time with the Round-Up, a couple other events that happened, and the holidays.”
And then, just a few months after the sale closed, the pandemic hit.
Three years later, business is finally getting back to normal and its new owners are beginning to make some changes.
“By the end of the year, we’ll know whether it’s a good investment,” George said. “We have a lot of ideas about what we want to do and how to do it, and we’re implementing some of that right now.”
Hamley Steakhouse recently expanded hours to offer lunch, and a breakfast menu is in the works.
And there’s a renewed focus on the saddle-making part of the business, which started it all. Larry Smith, who has been building saddles since 1971, said he was hired this summer to “get this back to the old Hamley’s.”
Larry Smith, manager of the saddle shop at the back of the Hamley & Co. Western Store, works on a custom saddle. (Samantha Swindler/Samantha Swindler/ The Oregonian)
“They were doing some repairs, they really weren’t building saddles,” he said. “People want to be able to come in, sit in one, pack it up, stick it under their arm and take it home with them.”
Now, visitors can watch Smith hand-tool saddles, purses and belts at the back of the store. There are plans to bring back the saddle-making academy and offer classes on leather working.
“There’s no replacement for real, genuine leather,” said Aaron Burnell, who works alongside Smith. He spends between six and seven hours to hand-make one Hamley & Co. belt.
“People can come in and see what it takes and what we’re doing to make it happen,” Burnell said. “It’s kind of neat to be able to explain that to people.”
Since it was purchased in 2019 by he Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Hamley & Co. Western Store has begun featuring the work of Native American designers and artisans. (Samantha Swindler/Samantha Swindler/ The Oregonian)
The work of Native American designers, jewelers and artists is featured throughout the western store. And the Hamley & Co. made items in the store now bear a tag that tells shoppers they are “supporting a Native American owned business, providing for its Tribes, and community members” and “preserving the legend of a brand deeply rooted in the history of the Old West.”
If you go: Hamley Steakhouse, 8 S.E. Court Ave. in Pendleton, is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for lunch and 5-10 p.m. for dinner, Tuesday through Saturday. Hamley Cafe & Wine Bar is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Hamley Western Store & Saddle Shop, next door at 30 S.E. Court Ave., is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. More information at hamley.com.
-- Samantha Swindler, sswindler@oregonian.com, @editorswindler
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