Breckenridge Texan

By Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan

Katherine Parker Post has an enthusiasm for life that bubbles over into just about everything she does — whether it’s opening her new shop in the heart of Breckenridge or getting to see a baby kangaroo up close (like she did at the Breckenridge Fine Arts Center earlier this year) — and that exuberance tends to pull everyone around her into the celebration that seems to follow her wherever she goes.

Katherine Parker’s new retail shop in downtown Breckenridge carries a variety of items that can be personalized with monograms, names, etc. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

For months, Katherine has been the talk of the town as the 2011 Breckenridge High School graduate — along with her husband, Brandon Post, and other family members — has worked on the building at 101 W. Walker Street. On Friday, Aug. 19, all of their hard work was evident when Katherine Parker Designs was officially opened up to the community with a Breckenridge Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting ceremony that literally stopped traffic on Walker Street as the photographers stepped back to get the entire crowd in the pictures.

The shop is part retail store and part design studio. The retail side of Katherine Parker Designs features a variety of colorful items that Katherine, along with her sister, Kendall, and their mom, Debbie, picked out at market in Dallas. There are gift and household items, such as frames, baskets, coasters and more, as well as accessories, including backpacks, lunch boxes, purses and other bags. Many of the items are customizable with names, monograms, etc. The shop also carries candles in handmade pots by Leslie Blackerby.

With Katherine’s dog Oliver being a big part of her life, there are also dog collars and bandanas for sale.

Katherine said one of her goals in deciding what to feature in her shop was that the items didn’t overlap with other stores in Breckenridge. She said she tends to pick out things that she would buy for herself.

“I wanted Breckenridge to have something that was just a totally different vibe. Number one, because not everybody has the same style. And number two, because … it was so different from anything anybody was offering that I knew there wasn’t going to be much overlap,” she said.

Customers might get a chance to see Katherine’s dog, Oliver, when shopping at her new store. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Another section of the store features celebration supplies — party napkins, cake toppers, festive drinking glasses, birthday headbands and much more. There also are gift bags and wrapping paper.

“The ‘celebrations’ is really more of just like a personal thing, because we — me and my sister and my mom — we just try to find reasons to celebrate every little thing in life,” Katherine said. “And so that’s just more of a personal philosophy of wanting to celebrate every day.”

The third element to Katherine Parker Designs is the “invitation station” that features custom-designed invitations, announcements and other stationery but also offers personalized digital watercolor prints that Katherine creates.

Katherine Parker Post designs custom invitations, announcements, digital watercolors and more. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

“You know, I always say this store has everything that you want and nothing that you need. Because it’s OK to indulge and kind of spoil yourself and spoil other people and show them how much you love them and appreciate them and things like that. And so it’s really just designs to make people happy. I want them to walk in, and I want them to look at things and go like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s so fun. That makes me happy.’ There’s glitter, there’s gold, there’s confetti, there’s … all kinds of stuff.”

Katherine moved back to Breckenridge last year after being gone for about 10 years. Following her BHS graduation, she attended Texas Tech University, majoring in advertising with a minor in business. She graduated in 2015 and immediately went to work as the director of marketing and advertising at Arrow Ford in Abilene. She then moved to Oklahoma to be the marketing director for a start-up company and launched Katherine Parker Designs along the way.

Last year, she moved back to Breckenridge when she and Brandon — high school sweethearts — got engaged. They were married last December.

Her family has deep roots in the community, and she and Brandon intend to stay here, she said. So, when Katherine heard that Colton Buckley, then-director of the Economic Development Corp., was organizing the Breckenridge Downtown Development Council, she volunteered to be a part of it.

“I wasn’t going to waste any time getting involved because I’m not leaving and I want to see Breckinridge thrive,” she said. “And it’s been an awesome initiative.”

After Buckley resigned to take an out-of-state job, she stepped up her role in the 13-member council. Currently, J.B. Sparks is chairman and Katherine is secretary.

“It’s a good mixture of people on the council,” she said. “There’s a great balance between trying to modernize and trying to preserve history. And the meetings and the ideas…both are really impressive.”

In addition to running the new store, creating custom designs for invitations and other products, and serving on the BDDC, Katherine continues to do marketing consultation, website design, etc. for a variety of clients.

Katherine Parker Designs, 101 W. Walker, is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Information about the business also is available online at www.katherineparkerdesigns.com and on Facebook.

Cutline, above and top photo: Katherine Parker Post and her husband, Brandon Post, along with their families, friends and Breckenridge Chamber of Commerce members, celebrate the grand opening of Katherine Parker Designs with a ribbon cutting ceremony and lots of confetti. The shop is located at 101 W. Walker Street. (Photo by Tony Pilkington / Breckenridge Texan)

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