Right in the heart of Pt. Clear, there is a unique shop that shares an old home where Punta Clara Kitchen is located, next to the Wash House restaurant, and just down and across the street from the Garage Studio. We will get to all those places soon, I promise. But the Market on Main is our focus today. What a fantastic place!

Belle Laurendine owns and operates Market on Main. How she got into this is an interesting story. (Whenever anyone makes this statement I think, “I’ll be the judge of that!”) Belle’s family is from Arkansas and her husband, Ed, is from Mobile. They spent most of their young adult years in Franklin, Louisiana, near Baton Rouge, and later in Metairie. Ed being a Mobile boy, the magnet drew him to come home. In 2010, they moved to old Daphne, near Bayside Academy.

Belle is an early childhood specialist and wrote much of the Louisiana state curriculum after graduating from the Mississippi College for Women in Columbus. She has always enjoyed antiques, and while living in Franklin, she began poking around shops and old barns where the locals were collecting and making interesting things. The area was “rich” with little tucked-away places where you could find unusual pieces for the home.

She found that you had to spend some time with these antique dealers and craftsmen before they would let her into their inner circle. “I don’t chew tobacco or dip snuff, but when they invite you in to visit, you accept a cold glass of iced tea,” she says. As a hobby, she began telling local dealers where she had seen items for their shops and  she soon became known as a “picker” before “people picked.” As Belle explains, “it was fun, I didn’t consider it a job.”

The Antique Roadshow came through town asking whom they could talk to about where to find antiques. Three shops told them to call Belle. “I just like people and enjoy helping others.” She traveled on weekends and looked for things her shop friends could sell. After she and Ed moved to Daphne, she asked, “What am I going to do with myself?” There was a little corner building on Main Street near where they lived that was vacant, so she approached the owner about renting it and opened her first shop named, Market on Main. 

Belle ran the shop there for seven and a half years. She had been on a buying trip and returned with a truckload of merchandise to find that her lease was not going to be renewed and she had one week to get everything out. She moved it all to a warehouse and started looking for a place to relocate. She saw the For Rent sign next to the Punta Clara Kitchen, set up shop in the space including the porch and adjacent garden, and had a spectacular opening weekend. Then Covid hit the next week and she had to close. 

Belle left a note on the porch saying, “Make yourself at home. If you see something you want, leave me a note.” She sold everything in the shop. “People were so happy to get out. It was such a chore to travel, they would wander up, see something they liked and get in touch.” Her friends in the business would open their warehouses for her and she loved interacting with her network again. 

When you walk into Market on Main, it's an “aha moment,” like a great discovery has taken place. I’ve experienced it. Belle likes things that add character to a home, like money boxes. “I like cash,” she says. It’s an eclectic array of merchandise. Some rustic pieces, Louis Phillippe furniture, “I like the straight lines and simple. Works everywhere.” She likes a blend of modern and antiques.

Market on Main carries a little bit of everything, Ironstone kitchenware., one-of-a-kind local pottery, baskets, pillows, bags, and guest towels. Belle likes versatility. She realized that people in our area like to be outside but need to easily move furniture from the lawn to the porch or inside depending on the occasion or the weather. She has rugs and rattan outdoor furniture that look great and “cannot be destroyed.”

She also offers some resort wear like scarves and silk jackets, “In case you’ve forgotten something.” She likes wooden pieces made by hand from the 40s and 50s. She has some local folk art and utilizes her indoor space as well as the porch and garden outside to showcase her goods. “I love serving refreshments in the garden, lemonade, and wine.” She likes to carry small $3 to $5 items that “add character” to a home.

It's obvious that Belle is a people person and enjoys her circle of friends and dealers. “Many of my dealers are European. Once they get to know you, you are like family. They look like they all just came from central casting.” Regarding how she goes about selecting what to buy, “It has to be interesting.” Another bit of wisdom from Belle is, “Never underestimate the power of a woman to move furniture themselves.”

I’m with you, Belle! Then I bought a wooden sausage stuffer from the 1940s. So cool!