Rebecca Shepherd, co-owner of Urban AlchemistIndependent jewelers, Imaan Selim and Rebecca Shepherd take a fresh approach to retail with Urban Alchemist, a design collective in Park Slope, Brooklyn. To see more pictures of what they sell at the store visit Urban Alchemist's Flickr Site
Selim and Shepherd met at Brooklyn Indie Market in the summer of 2007 and instantly bonded. "We realized we knew so many talented and unrepresented designers that when the storefront fell into our laps, we knew exactly what to do," said co-founder Selim. With Selim’s curatorial background and Shepherd’s entrepreneurial experience, it was like a marriage made in heaven.
Conceived as part store, part gallery and part artisan salon, Urban Alchemist has an eclectic mix of emerging designers as well as carefully selected vintage and modern home goods, accessories and furniture. The store stocks Via Nativa’s exquisitely crafted wood products, Re-surface’s modern graffiti inspired lamps, T.Kahres’s organic silver and enamel jewelry, Rebecca Shepherd’s feminine semi-precious jewelry and Eswera Jewelry’s modern, one-of-a-kind pieces.
"The benefits of a collective is that we feed off each other's creative energy and collaborate on special projects and events," said Shepherd. “If you were lucky enough to pop in during the first week, you'd probably have had a glass of champagne thrust in your hand in one of the vintage flutes sold at the shop. We hang out here, we work here, and we party here- it's that kind of place," Shepherd said.
The store is located at 343 5th Street, in Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY 11215. Take the F/R train to 9th St. and 4th Ave. station. Their website will be completed soon. You can reach Urban Alchemy at info@urbanalchemiststore.com or 718-499-0758.
For all our non-Brooklyn readers who can't make it out to Park Slope, you can shop for the design collective's beautiful, one-of-a-kind items online at the following sites:
eswera jewelry, imaan selim
rebecca shepard jewlery, rebecca shepherd
t. kahres jewelry, teresa kahres
via nativa, vanesa & alessandra
re-surface design, donna brady
eswera jewelry, imaan selim
rebecca shepard jewlery, rebecca shepherd
t. kahres jewelry, teresa kahres
via nativa, vanesa & alessandra
re-surface design, donna brady
Join them for a Summer Soiree in celebration of their Grand Opening. Thursday June 26, 8-10 pm *Press Cocktail Hour 7-8 pm
