Jen Harkness opened the Market on Washington in November 2017, pursuing a dream she’d had since she was a teenager: owning a shop to share her creative side with her community.
“Even when I was in high school, I wanted to have my own shop,” Harkness said. “I just didn’t know how or what, or anything, or when.” An answer to those questions would appear years later when the opportunity came for her to make her dream a reality.
Jen Harkness worked at The Nest, the shop that occupied what would become The Market on Washington, for a year. When the owner had a baby, operating two shops, one in Clarkesville and one in Peachtree City, was too much. After making the decision to close her Clarkesville shop, Harkness took her dream into her own hands and moved in. “It happened a little sooner than I planned,” she said. “But I didn’t want the opportunity to pass.”
Now, going on two years in business, she can say it’s her favorite thing to do.
Harkness says the best part of owning the Market on Washington is the creativity she has the opportunity to put into her work, especially during the “in-between phases,” where she’s creating new seasonal décor in her studio. From the displays in her shop to the events she holds, the choices are hers to make. “We can do whatever we like, however we like,” she says. “We aren’t in a box, it’s nice.”
The shop pops with handmade finishes, like the tree branches she’s made and furnishes with seasonal leaves and flowers, made from pool noodles and cardboard. Harkness says that she likes to “take the ordinary and make it extraordinary” in her shop.
The children’s section of her shop—The Little Market—has gone from a small part of the shop’s products in the back corner to taking up half of the store. “There weren’t a lot of places on the square that […] focused on children,” Harkness says. The Little Market has started offering a once-a-month storytime, where “adventurers” come to share their favorite books and activities with kids who come to visit.
Little fabric animals mingle among jewelry, gifts, and home decor, in the shop, which perfectly fits Harkness’s description of her store– “tradition, charm, and a bit of whimsy.” She tangles her creative passions with her entrepreneurial spirit to make the Market on Washington unique; among all the things she does from illustration to tap dancing, she says that running her shop is her favorite hobby.
For women like her who want to follow their dreams of owning their own business, Harkness offers advice. “Be prepared to work really hard,” Harkness says. “People don’t realize that there’s a lot of paperwork, a lot of long hours—long nights that you don’t think about.” After all the long nights and hard work, she says that all in all, owning your own business is worth it. “You have this whole thing that’s yours and you get to stick your name to it; you get to be proud of it.”
She also suggests finding a niche. “Narrow down what you want your business to be and how you want your business to be,” she says. “It’s easy to get caught up and want to do a million different things at once, and we [women] are good multitaskers, but you have to have a vision and make it your own vision,” For her, that vision is an escape. “I just want people to come in and kind of feel like they could be transported to another place, but still be reminded of the good and wonderful things at home.”
You can shop local (and maybe even meet Winston the dog) at the Market on Washington in Clarkesville Square, 1358 Washington Street.
