Park City Main Street Boutique Crawl | Tricia P.

When friends visit, the first thing I plan is the Main Street walk. Not the touristy version — the version where we get a coffee at Atticus, park behind Town Lift, and crawl six or seven blocks of Park City's actual boutique scene. It takes about three hours if we behave and four-plus if we do not. We almost never behave.

This is the crawl. It's heavy on Modern Western pieces — fashion, jewelry, art — because that's what Main Street does well. It is also, deliberately, almost entirely independent and locally-owned. The chain stores on Main Street are fine; they are not why I take visiting friends down here.

Park City Main Street boutiques — Lower Main on a Tuesday in March — locals' shopping window. Tourists are skiing, the boutiques are quiet.

Burns Cowboy Shop

Lower Main Street. The senior establishment of Park City Western. Burns has been here for decades, run by the same family, and it is the most serious traditional-Western shop in town. Boots, hats (their hat selection is excellent — different from Kemo Sabe, more workman traditional and less fashion-forward), tooled leather belts, silver buckles, the occasional saddle.

I shop Burns specifically for: boots (their Lucchese and Olathe selection is deep and properly fit), belts (their tooled-leather wall is genuinely a working belt wall, not a gift wall), and silver buckles (they will sell you the buckle and the belt separately, the way it's supposed to be done).

If you only do one Western shop in Park City and you want the most authentic version, Burns is the answer.

boutique store interior — The boutiques on Main rotate inventory monthly. If you see it, buy it that day.

Olive & Tweed

Mid Main Street. The jewelry store I send everyone to. Olive & Tweed is a curated boutique focused on contemporary Western and Southwest jewelry — turquoise, sterling, leather wraps, the occasional spiny oyster. It's a mix of designer pieces and local artisans, and the curation is consistently better than what you'd find at any chain.

I shop Olive & Tweed for: turquoise rings (their stackable rings are in heavy rotation in my collection), statement cuffs, leather wrap bracelets, and gifts (always gifts — Olive & Tweed is my December lifeline). They will gift-wrap with care.

western style shopping — Modern Western finds — fringed suede, hand-tooled belts, the occasional turquoise that's worth the markup.

Thomas Kearns McCarthey Gallery

Mid Main Street. Not a clothing boutique, but a stop on every crawl I do. Kearns McCarthey is the leading Russian Impressionist gallery in the country — yes, in Park City, in a Victorian on Main Street, somehow. The Russian Impressionist collection is the marquee, but they also carry contemporary Western art, and that's where I linger.

I have bought two pieces here over the years for our Promontory house — both small, both Western, both perfect. The gallery owners (the McCartheys) are warm and not pushy, and they will spend ninety minutes with you whether you're buying or not.

boutique fashion shop — Olive & Tweed is my first stop every month. They know my size and they know what Mark won't return.

Cake Boutique

Mid-upper Main Street. The contemporary mom-fashion stop. Cake leans more Free People / Anthropologie / dressy-casual than strictly Western, but they always have one or two pieces with a Modern Western edge — a fringed jacket, a Western-yoke dress, a great vintage-feel cardigan.

I shop Cake for: winter dresses (surprisingly strong), denim (they carry Mother and a couple of better lines), tops (the silk blouse rotation), and the occasional impulse hat when I'm not allowed back into Kemo Sabe.

Park City Clothing Co.

Lower Main Street. The locally-owned souvenir-but-not-tacky stop. Park City Clothing Co. makes its own line of heathered sweatshirts, tees, and hats — Park City-branded but actually well-designed, in colorways that don't look like a gift-shop product.

I shop here for: family Christmas-morning sweatshirts (Maddie and Jax wear theirs unironically, which is the highest grade a teenager can give), visiting-friend gifts (this is the one tasteful Park City sweatshirt to send your sister back home), and Mark's PC-logo caps for the golf-and-NAC circuit.

Park City Main Street shops — Upper Main is more galleries than apparel. Worth the walk, but bring the Amex.

The detour: Bohemian Trunk

Just off Main, slightly tucked away. Vintage Western and bohemian — fringed leather, vintage Pendleton, the occasional concho belt, antique turquoise. This is where I source the vintage layer for the turtleneck-under-Pendleton outfit I won't shut up about. Inventory is unpredictable. That's the appeal.

cowboy hat shop — Kemo Sabe is a Main Street boutique crawl on its own. You don't go for one thing.

The afternoon I do

If you have a friend visiting and want my crawl, here's the route:

Start at Atticus for coffee (or Park City Coffee Roaster if Atticus is full).
Walk down to Burns, stay 30-40 minutes.
Cross to Park City Clothing Co. for a quick sweatshirt rotation.
Stop at Olive & Tweed — budget 45 minutes.
Drop into Kemo Sabe. Try not to buy a hat. (You will.)
Cake Boutique for the contemporary balance.
Kearns McCarthey Gallery for the slow look at art — even if you're not buying, this is the moment of the crawl that visiting friends remember.
If you have legs left, the Bohemian Trunk detour.
End with a drink at The Bridge Cafe patio or High West Saloon.

Why local

Park City Main Street has chains — the same Lululemon-and-Patagonia lineup you'll find in any resort town. They're fine. They're not why we go down. The reason to walk Main Street is the independents — Burns, Olive & Tweed, Kearns McCarthey, Cake, Park City Clothing Co. — that have been there for years, are owned by people who live here, and stock the things that make a Park City closet a Park City closet.

If you're new to PC and you've been doing the Outlet-only shopping run, please consider this your permission slip to walk Main Street with intention. The Outlets have their place — I have a whole post on that — but the boutique crawl is the one that builds the closet you actually want.