Park City has a new, stylish addition to its shopping area. The boutique Wunderkind, which carries hard-to-find luxury brands, opened at 440 Main Street in May, its fourth location and first in Utah. The shop sits next to Vuori and directly across the street from The Marquis, placing it in o ne of the town’s busiest retail areas. For owner Philip Manghisi, the opening caps off a steady expansion that began in Scottsdale, Arizona. After launching his first store there, he added two more in Montecito, California. Park City marks his boldest move yet. The choice to set up shop in Utah wasn’t a guess. Wunderkind tested the waters first with month-long pop-up shops, starting in the summer of 2022, at spots like Promontory, Talisker and The St. Regis Deer Valley. Each proved popular, and the brand jumped at the chance to secure a permanent home on Main Street. “I like to put stores in places where there are not really stores; to open a store in a space that has no access to these brands is a very unique opportunity,” Manghisi said. Inside Wunderkind, shoppers can discover luxury designer pieces tough to find elsewhere in Utah. The racks and shelves feature shoes, dresses and handbags from Celine, Bottega Veneta, Givenchy, Balenciaga and more. To keep the collection fresh, Manghisi travels to Europe four times a year with a focus on Paris and Milan. There, he hunts for the latest trends he believes will suit the local community. “What I learned from my first experience in buying was if you love it, hopefully your clients will love it,” Manghisi said. “I try to think about real people, running around town, etc., and what they would wear for their everyday lives. A touch of fantasy but real clothes.” Fashion has shaped Manghisi’s life since his teenage years. While studying at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, he started as a cashier at Jeffrey, a designer retailer. By 20, he was working as a salesperson. At 21, he earned a promotion to buyer, a role that sent him to Europe 10 times a year to source pieces from established luxury houses and emerging designers alike. His coworkers at Jeffrey noticed his talent and nicknamed him the “Wunderkind,” German for miracle child or child prodigy. Years later, Manghisi chose that name for his own store. “During the pandemic, I had a moment of clarity and decided to open my own store,” Manghisi said. “I learned from titans in the industry and have applied that learning for my own thing.” The atmosphere in the stores achieves a balance between refined and relaxed, a setting that appears well put together without being overly serious by combining sophistication with a touch of playfulness, exactly as was intended. Manghisi also intends to make himself a part-time resident of Park City, spending his time between Utah and Arizona. Wunderkind opened its first Utah location at 440 Main Street in Park City. Credit: Photo Courtesy of Wunderkind The post Luxury fashion lands on Main Street with Wunderkind’s first Utah location appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less