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Chester County Press

Clover Market draws 100 vendors to well-attended festival in Kennett Square

06/06/2023 11:52AM ● By Richard Gaw

Photos by Richard L. Gaw           Jessica Fields of Seven Pines Apothecary in Warrington, Pa. was one of 100 artisans whose work was showcased at the Clover Market, held in Kennett Square on June 4.

 

By Richard L. Gaw, Staff Writer

When Jodie Farrow and Meggie Crnic of Savoir Chair – restorers of antique furniture based in Collingswood, N.J. – arrived this past Sunday morning for their first appearance at the Clover Market in Kennett Square, they were excited to expand their artistic footprint to a new community.

Moments after the event first welcomed visitors at 10 a.m., the community arrived in droves and kept coming throughout the six-hour festival – produced in partnership with Kennett Collaborative -- that featured the work of 100 artisans in a small city of artisan tents along South Union and East South streets.

Crnic and Farrow, who have appeared at other Clover Markets, also anticipated what has become the most intangible quality of this festival: a camaraderie among vendors. As they were arranging their booth, another vendor nearby stopped his work to make a small repair to one of Savoir Chair’s pieces of furniture.

“The Kennett Square Clover Market is everything we expected it would be, and even more,” Crnic said. “Jodie and I had previously heard about the Kennett Square community was amazing, and we thought that this would be a wonderful opportunity. Everyone is super-friendly and there is a great vibe. When we first founded Savoir Chair in 2021, our goal was to open our business at a Clover Market event, and [Clover Market founder] Janet Gardner Long made it happen for us.”

“The thing I love about bringing the Clover Market to Kennett Square is that this is a community that comes out to support events, whether it is Clover Market or the Mushroom Festival or the Kennett Brewfest or the Kennett Summerfest,” Long said. “For us, we know that we can count on people supporting our vendors.”

To Long, who founded Clover Market in 2010, vendors like Farrow and Crnic from outside the Brandywine Valley add a singular pieces of fabric to the rich canopy of local artisans, and regularly travel to shows from as far away as Virginia and Maine.

“This area is just teeming with artisans, and it is this richness that makes my job wonderful, because it allows me to draw from so many people from nearby and combine them with vendors like Meggie and Jodie who travel to our events,” she said. “This diversity allows vendors to develop friendships with each other. We work hard to cultivate an artistic community that is kind, helpful and collaborative, and happy to be among other like-minded artisans.”

Savoir Chair was far from the only vendor who traveled a distance to appear at the June 4 Clover Market in Kennett Square. Lisa Meyer of Kabyco Designs traveled from Biddeford, Maine.

“I have worked with many curators in my 16 years in business, but Janet is incredible,” Meyer said. “She organizes a fantastic market that is fun and well worth the seven-hour trip it took me to get here.”

Clover Market vendor Jessica Fields drove more than one hour from her home in Warrington, Pa., where she has owned Seven Pines Apothecary for the past four years.

“I was a vendor at the Clover Market in Bryn Mawr last year, and I found it to be a very well-run market,” said Fields, who in addition to being a licensed massage therapist makes all-natural aromatherapy products. “They always draw great crowds, who all seem to place the next Clover Market on their calendars. I have already applied to come back here in Kennett Square this fall.”

Upcoming Clover Market events will be held on Sept. 10 in Chestnut Hill, Pa., on Sept. 24 in Collingswood, N.J., on Oct. 8 in Bryn Mawr and will wrap up its 2023 season with a return to Kennett Square on Oct. 22. To learn more, visit www.theclovermarket.com.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].