LAS VEGAS (KLAS)– To the untrained eye, the state-of-the-art shopping center is the newest addition to the growing southwest valley, but upon closer look, it appears to be the materialization of a Las Vegas native’s desires.
The Bend, advertised as the Southwest area’s “largest dining, entertainment, and shopping destination,” is opening its doors after five years of construction. J Dapper, founder of Dapper Companies, said when his company took on the project, they set out to factor in their favorite businesses in the Las Vegas valley.

“My favorite coffee place, Mediterranean, beer, sports bar, brewery, and put them all together in one place,” Dapper said.
However, when Dapper answered calls from prospective tenants seeking to fill the 18 slots at the 158,000-square foot complex he did something he described as unconventional—he turned down the chain businesses.
“It was very difficult for me to, I would say, stay disciplined, because I had a lot of offers from some great, you know, chain type tenants,” he said. “I thought that it was important to stay kind of consistent with my original vision. I was going to have a bunch of really great non-chain tenants that were mostly all from Las Vegas.”
The Bend businesses, located near W. Sunset Road and S. Durango Drive
- Mothership Coffee Roasters
- Great Greek Mediterranean Grill
- Freed’s Dessert Shop
- Union Biscuit
- All Mountain Cyclery
- Metro Pizza
- Butcher and Thief
- Dinette Luncheonette
- Electric Pickle
- Marufuku Ramen
- Makeshift Union
- Kintsugi Yoga
- See Ya Soon
- Halcyon
- Killer Whale
- Sola Salon
- Aces and Ales
- The NOW
Some of the tenants harken back to Dapper’s childhood. A look through the catalogue of businesses is like a trip down memory lane. Metro Pizza, a pitstop for a young Dapper riding his bike. Freed’s Dessert Shop, a source of the Dapper family’s 40-year holiday tradition of purchasing a gingerbread house. All Mountain Cycle, a Boulder City favorite for Dapper.
“I think local people like local things, and I think that it’ll be celebrated,” he said. “It’s kind of nice to go to a place where there’s no big chains, and that every tenant there is actually got a real proprietor and a person.”
Dapper said the street-facing storefront design of The Bend is focused on displaying the activity within the complex to the passersby along Sunset Drive—intended to mirror the easily seen bustle of the Art District’s Main Street or Las Vegas Boulevard.

“It took a lot of extra effort to be able to do that, because every single space you had to design it in a way that basically has a front and actually a front back door and it’s very challenging to do,” he said. “But once you accomplish it, I think it comes out incredible. That’s one of the fundamental differences between any other project that I’ve ever developed and this one.”
From a design standpoint, Dapper leaned more into a more modern, Southern California feel. The new style a departure from Dapper’s recognizable Googie design near the Huntridge Theater.
“I think that we’ve got a vibe and a feel that’s very different in this project than probably anywhere that you’ve seen in Vegas,” Dapper said.
There is no official opening date for the entirety of The Bend, but Dapper said Union Biscuit, Great Greek, Aces and Alez, Marafuku Ramen, Sola Salon, and Makeshift Union will be opening for business in the next 30 days, Mothership Coffee Roasters opened on Saturday. The rest of the businesses on the list are still under construction and will be complete within the next six months.
Mothership sighting
The Kyoto tea house and sci-fi design of the new coffee shop at The Bend is paying off with customers, according to Juanny Romero, CEO of Mothership Coffee Roasters, but it was initially a tough sell to the builder.
“I remember telling J Dapper about it and him being like, ‘I don’t know if that’s going to work,’” Romero said. “Thee goal for it was to provide something a little different than we have in all of our other spaces combined.”
Also unique, Romero said the new southwest valley location is working in partnership with the AAPI Chamber of Commerce, which has a foothold in the community.
“They have this wonderful children’s program where they’re teaching AI technology, and it’s all free, and they’re hoping to actually have a second location and to have more students available to be participating this free program,” she said. “Our goal with the grand opening and this month’s charity bag, is to raise money for them move to that second point.”
The woman, and minority owned business also was able to express a large amount of creativity in how its design spoke to the culture of the area, a feat not accomplished by many according to Romero.
“I think we got really lucky and very privileged to work with J dapper and his company,” Romero said. “He’s allowed us to design and create a space that’s very unique that a lot of other landlords sometimes have a maybe a gap in seeing that creativity.”