Patent Pending opened its doors to the public for the first time during its grand opening ceremony Sept. 29. The new business, located on Main Street in downtown Upland will supply consumers with gifts and other home goods.
Owner Sara James spoke at the event, thanking contractors and other contributors to the opening of the business.
“I want to make something for the town. So this is my company for the town. I want to make something beautiful. I want to help grow our local economy,” James said in her speech.
James had Upland locals in mind when choosing merchandise to carry, mentioning she had thought of two or three people specifically when choosing each specific store item.
In addition to carrying merchandise for customers, James plans to continue her interior design business and host community events. Some of the fall events include flower arranging, charcuterie boards and ornament making for Christmas. These activities will be open to the community and fun for all ages, James said.
“I'm excited to have a local place for students to be able to come and buy gifts for people,” Jones said. “I think that this will really help bring a new aspect to this town, and it'll help get people into the downtown area.”
A resurgence of the Upland downtown area has been the focus of the Main Street Mile Initiative, pouring resources into Upland and the greater Grant County area. Construction has since begun on Main Street to improve the infrastructure.
James’ past role in the Taylor advancement office integrated her further with the local community, igniting her passion for the Upland and Grant County residents.
“I’ve lived in Upland for a total of 21 years [of] my life, and I've always thought that we deserve nice things too — we want to celebrate all the good things that are happening in our town,” James said. “Economic growth is the thing that I think our town needed the most right now. I [think] Taylor students will like being here.”
The idea for the name of the business originated as an inside joke between James and her husband, Ryan, while washing dishes one night. On the back of a piece of dishware, James noticed the words ‘patent pending.’
This spurred a further conversation about the production of the plate, James asking her husband how the company could produce and promote dishware when it wasn’t yet ready to go out into the world, she said.
“I’m putting something out there that isn’t finished and polished yet, it’s always going to be working and changing,” James said.
