Big Wheel General Store

My family and I stopped here while driving through town and we came in to buy my son an ice cream cone. We went to pay for it ($ 2) and the clerk stated that they didn’t take cards for purchases less than $ 10 and pointed at a sign (which I admit was clearly visible, but had escaped our notice) that said «CREDIT CARDS… $ 10 PREFERRED MINIMUM». Our son had already begun to eat. The clerk told us that there was an ATM machine. When we investigated we found that the fee for its use was $ 3. I then went back to the clerk and asked her what she thought the word «preferred» meant, because to me it clearly indicated that they would prefer you to keep your credit card purchases above $ 10, but that that was not mandatory. At this point another clerk stepped in and said that that was the policy. My wife offered to pay a 50 cent or even a dollar surcharge voluntarily, to which the clerk responded that the owner would not allow that and that he would end up paying more to use the credit card than the price of the ice cream itself (I doubt that her surcharge price quote was accurate). She then offered to just buy it for us (which is one of the reasons I’m not giving the place only one star), but my wife didn’t feel comfortable doing that (I felt fine about it) so instead we bought another item to bring it up to $ 10. We walked out feeling as if we had suffered a tourist trap. They should change the sign to say «Minimum Credit Card Charge $ 10». Or just charge a reasonable surcharge.

Nice place for snacks and gifts. Affordable and lots to choose from! I bought two beautiful pieces of unfinished Redwood and Maple to incorporate in a small home project in memory of our trip.

A must stop when we visit Bandon. We always stop both for the great Umpqua ice cream and the awesome fudge. They have one of the best varieties of fudge I have seen. It is also a neat place to shop for souvineers. Make sure you stop here if you are in town.

Very friendly person helped us to our treats. Super prices on Umpqua ice cream compared to other places we’ve tried — 2 scoops for only $ 2.75. Their fudge was also reasonably priced in that you could buy just ¼ pound (plenty for at least 4 servings) for $ 3.75. I’m not a fudge connoisseur, but it sure tasted good to me.

Went here to get fudge. They also have «touristy» stuff. Fudge was decent! I had ¼ pound divinity, and ¼ pound of vanilla/​chocolate swirl.

Very cute little gift shop with ice cream and fudge — as well as the touristy stuff.
I actually went in because I’d been driving along the coast for a couple of hours and seen 4 different signs/​buildings advertising «myrtlewood» — which I’d never heard of. So when we were eating at Tony’s Crab Shadk, across the street, I saw they had a sign advertising myrlewood –
Their ice cream became husband’s dessert — and I found out what myrtlewood is. It’s little wood carvings. Desk doo-​dads. Wood jewelry. Lots of crosses.
Not what I was expecting. With so many places selling and making it, I was thinking Adirondak chairs, or cradles, or garden gnomes or something.
Ah well.
The fudge was yummy, and husband finished his chocolate mint chip ice cream with a smile.
The general store had a nice feel to it – not too crowded with junk, but still lots to look at to pass the time.

Excellent fudge. My wife loved the peanut butter chocolate fudge and I loved the original. Very nice and helpful staff as well.

Not only do they make their fudge and sell ice cream but the selection of gifts or sweatshirts if fantastic! And now along with their regular favors of fudge they added 4 new ones; my favorite over rocky road is now Cappincino, Butterfinger, Rootbeer — remember those hard candy barrel shape? yep, and Cherry Cordial! The sales people are great and have such wonderful stories to share in the gallery as well as helpful! Been four years running in visiting one of my favorite stores in Bandon by the Sea!

All the gals in there are awesome and so helpful! Their cranberry nut fudge is to die for!

I do NOT like tourist shops, but if you are going to go to one on a trip down the Oregon Coast, go to this one, it’s got the nicest and most helpful staff as well as good prices on all the touristy tshirts, mugs, sweatshirts and other stuff you could ever want.
They also have super fudge and great priced ice cream, plus a gallery of nicer stuff in a separate area in the east end of the store.
My Mom found two pretty tops, not touristy at all, but she got her fix and it was pretty painless for me and my Dad.

This place had great fudge and the people working were very nice :)

My favorite place in Bandon! The fudge is awesome and they always have good prices on souvenir sweatshirts.

After searching through several shops I found this store. I didn’t think that finding a nice tee shirt that said «Bandon» on it would be so hard, but this place had plenty to choose from. The prices were good. I saw that they also sell fudge and ice cream, but I didn’t buy any.

Thank you, Big Wheel, for not charging $ 3 a scoop for ice cream. Seriously, thank you.
$ 3 seems to be the going rate for ice cream or a latte these days, so I appreciated that although this is a tourist shop right along the Port of Bandon, they weren’t price gouging.
Most of the store is dedicated to t-​shirts and other tourist gear, but there is a fudge counter and about 20 varieties of Umpqua Ice Cream. Funny how Oregon has an ice cream dividing line almost like a dairy civil war (Tillamook to the North and Umpqua to the South).
The staff was very friendly and efficient. Eager to offer samples and suggest you try new flavors. I recommend grabbing a cone and heading out to the pier to enjoy the view.