The Cottage at the Market: A Pop of Pretty Among Produce

Story and photos by Natalie Daher

Star’s Hollow, the quaint Connecticut small town that sets the scene for the fictional television series Gilmore Girls, meets Wayne at the neighborhood gift booth, the Cottage at the Market. Shelves stacked with trinkets of all kinds form the walls of the shop run by a Gilmore-esque mother-daughter duo, Sarah Hayday and her daughter, Sydney.

Hayday took over ownership of The Cottage at the Market, a gift, accessory and craft booth stationed at the Lancaster County Farmer’s Market in Wayne for over 30 years, in August 2012. After various business endeavors, Hayday moved to Berwyn three years ago  and has become a friendly face at the market, where everybody knows everybody by name.

Customers often drop by her booth to purchase a hostess gift, or sometimes simply to chat or share a story. Hayday speaks to the authenticity of the market, where people actually “make what they’re selling.”

“You’ll never feel alone being here,” she said.

Hayday moved to the Main Line to operate a start-up glitter tattoo kiosk, Rain Stars, with her sister at the King of Prussia mall. In her free time, she visited the market frequently, making friends with the previous eight-year owner of the gift booth, Debbie Pakradooni. Last summer, Pakradooni proposed the idea of overtaking ownership to Hayday and her sister. Hayday’s sister encouraged her to pursue the idea on her own, though she often visits to assist her with various tasks.

“I was the sister who would come to the market — get chicken, get iced tea, and I would stop [at Cottage at the Market] if I needed a gift,” she said. “It just came up.”

As an alumnus of the University of Vermont with a business degree, Hayday had several stints in an office setting before taking the entrepreneurial route. After working in networking consulting for large corporations and sales, the rigid structure and the solitude of those jobs proved to be suffocating to her friendly and outgoing nature, she told Radnor Patch. She preferred an environment where approaching and talking to people were part of the job.

“The corporate world is not something I’m really in love with,” she explained.

Free of the desk-bound workplace, the “idea of being driven each day to wake up and plan [her] day” along with the accompanying pressures, incite Hayday to take her spot at the booth around 8 a.m. every morning. The booth now operates under new hours from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays, and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.

Hayday obtains her inventory from vendors and trade shows, and she supports local and American sellers. For instance, she recently debuted hand-crocheted baby clothes from a vendor from King of Prussia, who will receive a cut of the profit. She often keeps her regulars in mind while making purchases.

“I hand picked this,” she said, displaying the pastel yarns of the infant onesies and booties. “I take the time to pick out things differently.”

While the typical Cottage customer is a woman over 35 years old, she hopes to appeal to college-age women with the help of her daughter’s eye for the “teen and tween market.” Hayday remains cognizant of trends when selecting her products, staying updated on the latest colors and fashions with a particular attention to the wardrobes of newscasters, who she said are always in style. Her favorite items include the sack towel, a practical and versatile hand-designed cloth, along with an array of jewelry, soaps and candles.

Though an advocate of Apple products and current technology, Hayday still utilizes the debatably antiquated cash register and price gun, maintaining a certain nostalgic feel at the booth. She gift wraps any purchases greater than $15, though there are often exceptions.