Business Spotlight: Indigo Highway

Indigo Highway is a stunning boutique in Park City’s Newpark Town Center, featuring exotic and eclectic items curated to make your home as unique its owners.

I spoke with Indigo Highway owners, Jennifer & Dean Tutor, about the “Indigo Highway” philosophy, the origin of their amazing merchandise, and what the future holds.  

How did you both end up in Park City?

We were living in Los Angeles, working in the entertainment industry. We were fortunate enough to travel the world for productions in different locations for shoots. Utah was continually a place we would return to, and we began to fall in love with all Utah had to offer. Eventually, we were ready to leave the craziness of L.A. and made Utah our home. 

How did the idea for Indigo Highway come about?

We were working in Florida, consulting with a b2b (business-to-business) brand. Having just returned from Morocco, where we made some of the most amazing friends, we looked out at the ocean, making its way over to where we just returned. This made us think of connectivity and how different, yet similar, we all are. Different countries, different languages, different religions, etc., but at our core, aspirations, beliefs and desires were the same. We thought about how the blue water below and the blue sky above connect us as a global community … the Indigo Highway appeared before us. We wanted to create a brand that would be all about the journey. Your journey, our journey, the journey we are all on together … Indigo Highway summed this up perfectly. 

When did you open, and how has the business evolved since then? 

We opened the doors in September of 2016. When we opened it was just the two of us working every day. Now, we are grateful to have a wonderful team of exceptional women that bring ideas, kindness, enthusiasm and inspiration to the shop each day and take great care of us. It’s also been terrific, meeting amazing new friends through the Indigo Highway connection. As for its evolution, Indigo Highway is continually evolving based on what our clients wants and needs are, and always will.

How do you select your merchandise; is much of it custom-made or exclusive to Indigo Highway?

Jennifer’s many years as a celebrity stylist definitely comes in to play when selecting the merchandise. Instead of having just one client, the community of Park City is the client. I like to choose things not only I love, but pieces I feel the Park City community would wear and use in their journey of living an active, yet stylish life. Some of it is exclusive to us, some of it custom-made, and some otherwise.

We like to support as many women-owned businesses as we can and search out artisanal products that are doing great things when it comes to sustainability. Doing right by the planet, and women supporting women, is something we feel very strongly about. We love beautiful hand-crafted products and the stories that make them so special. A great example would be our new concert/picnic blankets. This is a Mother/Daughter brand that is working with a village in Baja to make the greatest blanket. The village recycles old clothing and turns it into new yarn to weave the products. They’re modern, yet use an age-old method. Something we are all about!

Can you tell us about your apothecary items?

The Apothecary items we choose to carry are selected very carefully to make sure ingredients are natural and effective. We believe strongly in the use of essential oils and their benefits. One of our favorite products is an amazing honey lotion made by two women in Chicago. They make the lotion like wine, in big barrels. There are only a certain number of bottles each season and if it goes bad, we’re out for months. We also have these beautiful meditation bundles from a social co-op that works with the natives in South America to harvest Palo Santo for incense and soaps. We respect and honor the ancient methods and practices of those who came before. We are in awe of how the Native Americans base their lives and rituals around the earth and sky.

What defines an “artisanal home?”

We believe an artisanal home is when you curate your surroundings based on items with meaning, and knowing the story and the artist behind each piece. Nothing mass-produced just to fill a space. For instance, these incredible pillows made by a woman in Bend, Oregon. She gets fabric decorated with organically-dyed cactus fibers and makes the most gorgeous pillows. We also carry pottery from artisans in California and Oregon that make the most beautiful coffee cups and smudge plates, exclusive to Indigo Highway. Gotta have a great smudge plate to house your Palo Santo and Sage, right? Again, all based on Native American practices to clear away negative energy and bad vibes, but also welcoming in the positive.

Which products do your customers get most excited about (and are most challenging to keep in-stock)?

Gosh, that’s a tough one. We keep trying to figure out what the patterns are and it’s really all over the place. We carry such a large variety of products, and it’s always changing, so it’s really hard to tell. We’re like a modern trading post, in a sense. The large art pieces having words that move you, are hard to restock as they take a while to make. Jewelry is meaningful and a lot of the time, one of a kind … people always get excited about that. Right now, we carry a jewelry line made from Anasazi Pottery and walrus fossils. Each piece is signed and numbered by the artist and no two will ever be alike. We love to constantly change-out inventory to keep things fresh. The vintage indigo pieces and crystals are hard to restock because we have to go select these personally, by hand. We have a great time with sassy cards. We don’t take ourselves too seriously and we want people to have fun when they come visit. 

Are you developing other areas of retail or online offerings?

We are in the process of expanding our custom made items, like our give-back candles and t-shirts for a wholesale side of Indigo Highway. Our website is up and running, but is hard to keep everything photographed and entered due to the constantly changing-inventory and one-of-a-kind pieces. We keep getting approached to open other locations or franchises, but feel Park City is Indigo Highway’s home and want this to be the only location for a while. 

What does the future hold for Indigo Highway?

Making more friends all over the world along the Indigo Highway and continuing to do what we love here in Park City. Hopefully, our travel- and nature-inspired goods will be found around the world, the website will be fully stocked, all while adding more stamps in our passports. Then, more time for “Travel Nights” (special events held at Indigo Highway) where we get together with friends, clients and fellow travelers to talk all things travel. Hope to see you along the Indigo Highway!

Stop by Indigo Highway (1241 Center Drive in Redstone) and receive 10-percent off your purchase (valid through June 31, 2019).

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