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The Market at Magnolia on Main, like the city of LaFayette, is open for business. The boutique held its open house on Thursday afternoon, introducing 17 new vendors to the downtown area.

Jennifer Graves, former owner of Gimme Some Sugar in LaFayette, will be the manager of the boutique, while Ashlee Noles is the owner along with Magnolia on Main hair salon next door.

The two entrepreneurs have known each other since 2020. Both had boutiques in their respective stores in the past but the collaboration seems to have been the missing piece. 

“When I say it’s all come back full circle, it’s full circle,” Graves said. 

The Market’s slogan is “Grow, Prosper, Go.” The boutique, which already houses several vendors, is set up like an incubator for small businesses, encouraging downtown’s economic growth.

“What we’re hoping, not only for these business owners, but for LaFayette, is that they come in here, they grow their business, they prosper from it, and then they get out at some point and they get another building here on the square,” Graves said, “And even if it’s not here, we just want them to grow and go somewhere.”

However, that’s not to say that the vendors can’t stay at the Market indefinitely. Many of the businesses are booth-only. By providing a space for showcasing local entrepreneurs and artists’ products, Graves and Noles hope to continue to support LaFayette’s downtown business.

“LaFayette is growing,” Graves said. “… I’ve always said it, and I’ll say it again, LaFayette is yearning for business, and there was a way to help provide it.”

“You put the Lord in the center of any plan, it’s going to work out the way it’s supposed

to work,” Graves said. 

“It might not be the way you think it will, but it will,” Noles added. 

There are currently 17 vendors with two boutiques. From Tiffani Bray, owner of Tiffani’s Luxury Scents and Tiffani Bray Photography, to Annie Lee, owner of Lucky Flight Bottle Shoppe in Dadeville, the Market is already booming with vendors. 

Even Noles’ daughter, Allyson Noles, a student at Southern Union State Community College, has opened a booth. As a barrel racer, or “Betty racer,” Allyson decided to name her bakery business “Betty Cakes.” 

When she heard about the Market opening downtown, Lee, a LaFayette native, decided to take the opportunity to bring a piece of her business back home. 

“I thought it was a wonderful opportunity for me to bring a piece of Lucky Flight to my hometown and to work with great people and to help bring more to Main Street on LaFayette,” Lee said.