Four-in-one business model in Park City finds the secret to success
'I’ve always thought that if you build something cool, people will come'
Summer/Fall 2021
Written By: Brooke Constance White | Images: Deborah DeKoff
It’s hard to be a small business in a seasonal community. It requires a certain amount of ingenuity, creativity, and willingness to think outside the box and come up with a way to be sustainable. Luckily, business owner Casey Crawford has those qualities in spades.
What was once the retail space for Casey’s hip boutique Prospect, has evolved into a multi-use collective space that houses a barbershop, a juicery, and a coffee shop, alongside her business. The clever four-in-one business model found at 509 Main Street has made it easier for all four proprietors to weather seasonal tourism and avoid high Main Street rent.
To get the full picture, let’s rewind a bit to find out how this all got started.
After a long career working for large lifestyle brands, Casey opened Prospect in 2009 at 509 Main Street with the hope that one day the space would house more than just her apparel and accessory store.
“I’d always thought coffee would fit in, but hadn’t initially thought of a barber,” she says. “It wasn’t to off-set rent, but more just a vision of creating something cool that you don’t see much. I’ve always thought that if you build something cool, people will come.”
Enter Billy Cregger, a Prospect employee who was interested in going to barber school and got Casey’s blessing to come back and open a barbershop in the back section of Prospect’s main level.
“We both wanted to pay homage to what was on Main Street back in the day because there was a long history of barbers on Main Street,” Casey says.
So, in 2013, Billy’s Barber Shop came to be.
“Barbering is a historic trade in Park City so it was exciting that I could bring the community back to its roots,” Casey said.
And if it wasn’t for the barbershop, Casey would have never met Mitch and Kelley Baker, who owned Pink Elephant Coffee Roasters. While Mitch was getting his hair cut by Billy, he mentioned that he owned a local coffee roasting business but didn’t have a space for a coffee shop.
Casey had met with several other coffee roasters and nothing had felt right. But her and the Bakers clicked. “We really jived together,” she says.
So, in 2016, the Bakers opened the Pink Elephant Coffee Shop on the second floor of 509 Main Street.
“It was basically a closet and storage space, but we turned it into this cozy little coffee shop,” Kelley says. “It was perfect because we’d always wanted to have our own shop on Main Street but didn’t think we could swing it so when this opportunity arose, we jumped at it.”
And why not add a juicery if you’re adding a coffee shop? Enter Casey’s sister Jenifer Sutherland and Land Juicery. At the time, Park City didn’t have a juice shop and it felt like a good match for the Pink Elephant on the second floor.
“Second floor retail is often a bad idea, but Casey curated this whole multi-use idea and honestly, I don’t think any of us could have done this without her,” Jenifer says. “It’s been great because people really enjoy feeling as though they found this hidden gem, this little special, unique place in town.”
On both floors of 509 Main Street you’ll find good energy and a sense of community — they’re all in it together. Although they are four separate businesses, they all want each other to thrive, because when one business flourishes, all of them do. To spread the love, they often refer customers to other 509 Main Street businesses to “cross-pollinate,” as Casey likes to call it.
“It’s so nice to have our own little community here,” Casey says. “It feels like a whole experience to our customers, whether they’re local or visitors. They come in and stay awhile because they find our shop and then the barber and then the coffee and juice upstairs.”
