YOUR AD HERE »

BRAND PC gives the public a chance to support creative Park City-area entrepreneurs this holiday season

BRAND PC, a roving pop-up shop that supports local creative entrepreneurs, will open Friday, Dec. 11, and run through Thursday, Dec. 31.
Courtesy of the Arts Council of Park City and Summit County

What: BRAND PC

Where: 544 Main St.

When: Noon-6 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays; noon-8 p.m. Fridays through Sundays

Web: brandedpc.org

The holiday season is an ideal time to find unique and locally made gifts for friends and family, and the long-running BRAND PC pop-up store can be a one-stop shop for artisan decor, jewelry and other items.

BRAND PC, which started in 2016 as a way for local, creative entrepreneurs to show and sell their wares, will open on Friday, Dec. 11, in a new space, 544 Main St., according to Jocelyn Scudder, executive director of the Arts Council of Park City and Summit County, which sponsors the shop.

“We want to give the opportunity for visitors and residents to shop local this holiday season,” Scudder said. “Our local creative sector does contribute to the vibrancy of our mountain town and retain our magical sense of place on top of being an amazing winter recreation destination.”



This year’s BRAND PC is made possible by the Create In Utah Grant from the Utah Division of Arts and Museums, a grant from the Promontory Foundation and sponsorship from Vacasa Real Estate, Scudder said.

Shopping local is more important this year because small businesses have been incredibly hit hard this year due the pandemic…” Jocelyn Scudder, Arts Council of Park City and Summit County executive director

“Jimmy Eaton, who is a Realtor for Vacasa, supports local art and donated the space for us to host this crazy pop-up,” she said.



Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the arts council will make sure social distancing protocols will be in place throughout BRAND PC’s run. The store will open every day, except Christmas, through Dec. 31.

“We’re fortunate because the way BRAND PC is structured is a pop-up shop, and we’ve studied other retail shops on Main Street that have been able to open during this pandemic,” Scudder said. “Masks will be required, and we will manage the flow and the number of people in the space.”

In addition, the arts council will have a “plethora” of sanitizing wipes on hand to clean high-touch surfaces, she said.

This year’s BRAND PC will showcase almost 40 brands, Scudder said.

“We have retained a lot of those who have participated before, and 10% of the brands will be new,” she said.

One of the new brands will be Mountain Aesthete, founded by artists and designer Eric Warner, who recently moved to Summit County from Salt Lake City.

Warner has prepared two types of merchandise he plans to show and sell.

“One is a collection of custom holiday decorations, but I look at these as more than something you would show during the holidays and then store away in a garbage bag in a basement,” he said. “They are all handmade in Utah and incorporate local and sustainably sourced natural materials.”

The other part of the collection will be decorative and functional objects.

“I’ve made astrology wall plaques from different materials, and there will be a collection of all 12 signs made out of brass bullet casings that you find at shooting ranges and trails,” he said. “Though I’m not a hunter or shooter, I think as an object the brass casings are beautiful. The cases will be embedded in reclaimed wood from construction sites and finished with high-gloss black lacquer.”

All of Warner’s work is created through his interest in sustainability.

“I don’t like the words upcycling or recycling, so I use the word reimagining,” he said. “I am interested in taking something that is not perceived as valuable to create something new in an elegant and sophisticated way.”

In addition to his works, Warner is also on the BRAND PC committee, and is using his retail-design experience to assist the layout and design of the shop.

“I’m thrilled to do this. It’s been a great pleasure to work with Jocelyn and her team,” he said.

Among those returning to BRAND PC is House 48, founded by Graham and Ethan Reynolds, who have been designing and selling artisan jewelry in the Park City area since 2005.

The brothers have been working on new ideas that include a 14-karat gold and precious stone collection, Graham said.

“We use an array of diamonds, cognac sapphires, amethysts and different gemstones,” he said.

Ethan, on the other hand, has ventured into designing men’s silver jewelry.

“I’ve been working on and just released a men’s ring collection,” he said. “It’s been cool branching into men’s jewelry, because we traditionally have been only making women’s stuff.”

The Reynolds started House 48 in 2005, when Graham was 11 and Ethan was 8.

“We have always been design and art oriented, and one day we wanted to try to start this jewelry thing out and make something for our mom,” Graham said.

The siblings, lacking funds to open a studio, began creating jewelry in their home.

“We dedicated a room in our home, and the 48 in our name is pulled from our address,” he said. “We’re still working out of the room today, and each year we add a new tool or technique to what we’re doing.”

The two got their big break when Park Silly Sunday Market debuted the summer of 2006.

“They had a great setup for young and emerging artists, and that’s how we started,” Graham said. “We now sell through a few retailers on Main Street, Instagram and our website.”

The Arts Council of Park City and Summit County started BRAND PC as an experimental pop-up shop after receiving feedback from local creative entrepreneurs, Scudder said.

“They were people who made apparel, jewelry and skin-care products who didn’t have a consistent outlet to sell their product,” she said. “So BRAND PC was formed in reaction to that to provide a platform to affordably have this avenue to sell their goods in Park City.”

That mission is more important today because of the toll the coronavirus pandemic has had on local businesses, Scudder said.

“Shopping local is more important this year because small businesses have been incredibly hit hard this year due the pandemic,” she said.

Entertainment


See more

Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Park City and Summit County make the Park Record's work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.