New shop to feature all Pittsburgh-based designers
For the past dozen years, Kelly Simpson-Scupelli of Stanton Heights has sold her womenswear line, Kelly Lane Design, in boutiques around the world and at pop-up events across the region. She maintains an e-commerce shop on her website, too.
One thing she hasn’t done is open her own brick-and-mortar store.
“But the way that the economy is and because of e-commerce, going into a storefront alone, that kind of risk isn’t very appealing,” she says. “It’s also just simply not doable as a small-scale designer.”
Nevertheless, she’s been intrigued for a while by the steady exposure and income that could come from owning a store, so she’s decided to take the leap with two other Pittsburgh-based designers, Rebekah Joy of Bloomfield and Rona Chang of Lawrenceville. Together, they’re the co-owners and core designers behind Make + Matter, at 3711 Butler St. in Lawrenceville. It will have its grand opening on Aug.4.
The front of the space, which formerly housed Toll Gate Revival, will be the retail floor featuring each designer’s
collections. Ms. Joy’s line, Flux Bene, is upcycled garments and accessories from repurposed fabrics. Ms. Chang’s line, Otto Finn, includes whimsical onesies and bandana bibs, tote bags and some home decor, such as storage containers made from washable paper. In addition to Ms. Simpson-Scupelli’s colorful dresses, the store will sell pieces from her Remnant Lab line of home goods and jewelry made from leftover fabric scraps from her clothing line. All of the designers share a focus on using sustainable materials in their work.
The back of the store will be an open studio space so shoppers can see the designers at work.
“We want to make the production visible to create more value around locally made design so people could understand how things are made and the amount of time that goes into making something,” Ms. SimpsonScupelli says.
The three designers got to know each other through their involvement with MONMADE, a trade group developed by social impact investor Bridgeway Capital’s Craft Business Accelerator that helps Pittsburghbred brands grow strategically and effectively. They all received grants from MONMADE to help finance their work and the new store.
“What I started to understand through various conversations is that designers are really hungry for this,” Ms. Simpson-Scupelli says. “Despite the online world, people really do still want to touch and feel things.”
They want to give other Pittsburgh-based designers a chance to share their creations, too, in the store through a rotating series of residencies. Designers can apply online at shopmakeandmatter.com and will be accepted based on the aesthetic and quality of their work. The goal is to feature between four to six new designers every one to three months. Visiting designers will pay a rental fee instead of having to share a cut of their sales with the store. Each month, there will be an in-shop event to welcome the latest designers.
“That’s a unique opportunity,” Ms. Joy says. “When you’re at a pop-up or market maybe there are other local designers there, but you’re all in your own little space” rather than being displayed together in one store.
Make + Matter is arriving on the Pittsburgh retail scene at a time when collective-style stores are trending nationwide to refresh interest in brick-and-mortar shopping.
In New York City, for instance, designer Christian Siriano opened earlier this year The Curated NYC, which the “Project Runway” alum billed as “a multibrand boutique” stocked with luxury clothes, ready-to-wear, jewelry and more. Meanwhile, collective-style stores such as Dover Street Market, which has locations in Manhattan and overseas, are generating buzz by mixing lots of brands with other experiences, such as an onsite cafe or restaurant.
Even department stores have been experimenting with new ways to curate and display emerging brands. For instance in February The Market at Macy’s launched in select stores, including in Ross Park Mall, as a platform for acquainting shoppers with different brands that will be updated regularly.
In Pittsburgh, collectivestyle stores with an emphasis on locally made goods also have been a success.
“People like supporting a small business, that in turn is supporting 80 other small businesses. That’s appealing to a lot of people,” says Kelly Sanders, who owns the gift shop love, Pittsburgh with her business partner, Monica Yope. The store carries only items, including home goods, T-shirts, candles, soaps and art work, made in the region and has locations on Mount Washington and Downtown in the Cultural District and the Oliver Building.
“We’ve definitely had feedback that we are significantly increasing people’s sales,” Ms. Yope adds.
Beyond sales, the women behind Make + Matter hope that their store will help foster relationships among local makers — and they’re already starting to see that happen as people pop in and ask how they can help.
“It’s exciting to think about all of the possibilities for local designers in Pittsburgh to create those kinds of connections and grow their businesses,” Ms. Simpson-Scupelli says.