Ardmore hosts first-ever holiday market

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Ardmore kicked off its first-ever holiday market Saturday, hosting more than 20 vendors.

Despite the winter chill, holiday shoppers wandered through Schauffele Plaza, perusing everything from candles and pottery to clothing and glassware.

“As an artist, if we didn’t have markets, we wouldn’t be able to actually sell our work,” said Marcia Reiver, a Bryan Mawr-based ceramicist who was selling her pottery, jewelry and other wares at the market Saturday.

“When you buy something from an artist, you’re actually making a big deal,” she said.

In addition to showcasing local artists, the market is designed to boost foot traffic to local businesses, said Alec Hersh, executive director of Ardmore Initiative, the town’s business improvement district.

“There are holiday events elsewhere in the Main Line,” Hersh said. “I wanted to make something happen here in downtown Ardmore that would make it really serve as … that magnetic force for people all across, from West Philly all the way up to Malvern, to come here.”

Grace O’Shea was carrying her toddler while browsing the different stalls. She said she and her family were able to walk just blocks from their home to check out the event.

“It’s great to have proximity to a market like this,” she said. “We are always looking for fun things to do on the weekend, right? And this is something super easy for us.”

Visitors can pick up a passport for the month of December at the market, said Rebecca D’Ostilio, marketing and events manager for Ardmore Initiative.

Once someone gets three stickers from participating businesses with any purchase, they can enter a giveaway for three $100 gift cards.

“That brings the community together, too,” she said. “You feel like you’re participating in shopping small. Which is the point of this, even with the vendors, right, you’re supporting a small business, and I think that’s super important.”

Ardmore wants to be the ‘main street of the Main Line’

Ardmore Initiative was created more than 30 years ago to facilitate business development and economic vitality.

The town’s identity and demographics have grown and changed over that time period, Hersh said. It’s now a racially diverse town, with a large under-35 population.

“If you are a young professional and you want to live in the suburbs, but still in a dense, walkable area that’s commutable to Center City, they will gravitate toward Ardmore,” Hersh said. “And so you see a lot of that with the development of our mixed-use and multifamily housing over the last five years.”

Hersh said activities and events such as the holiday market are part of the district’s goal of making Ardmore “the main street of the Main Line.”

“This is the first time Ardmore has ever done anything like this, and I think it really reflects the push in the direction that we’re talking about, an emphasis on small business, an emphasis on creating a sense of community, an emphasis in driving foot traffic in the community,” he said.

Hersh said the goal is to draw visitors to Suburban Square to the downtown commercial area on the opposite side of the railroad tracks. The district decided to hold the holiday market to coincide with Suburban Square’s Saturdays with Santa event, in order to attract more visitors.

“It’s really just about trying to promote support for what is a much more small business-oriented and a much more kind of independently-spirited commercial district,” he said.

For O’Shea, the Ardmore resident who attended the market Saturday, having both of those options is key.

“It’s super important to shop locally,” she said. “And we have this, and also Suburban Square, which provides a little bit of a different feel. So it’s nice to have the two.”

The holiday market is open from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Dec. 6 and Dec. 13. at Schauffele Plaza in Ardmore.