Stay is moving to downtown Elizabethtown in June

Hub on Market, 206 S. Market St., Elizabethtown

As a regular blood donor, I am used to traveling to different locations every eight weeks or so.

In just the past year, I have attended American Red Cross blood drives in Annville, Hershey, Mountville, Lancaster, Pine Grove and Lebanon. But the one that stands out was on March 9 at Christ Lutheran Church in Elizabethtown, and not just because of its recency.

As I approached the square from East High Street on my way home, I was reminded of what a cute, bustling downtown “E-Town” has.

And in that moment, I determined to look into the availability of retail space there.

A month later, we’re officially moving to the Hub on Market, 206 S. Market St., Elizabethtown, which also includes WhirliGig Unique Boutiques and EVO 206 Coffee Co.

We’re excited for a new opportunity and to immerse ourselves in a new community. Of course, it’s bittersweet in that we’ll be leaving our first permanent home at the Hershey History Center after nearly two years there.

But we have struggled to generate consistent traffic to the space, which admittedly is tucked around the side of the history center.

We’re right across Northeast Drive from the Tanger outlets, but the majority of those shoppers are focused on the likes of Nike, Old Navy and Under Armour and not on a small independent brand.

We’re still going to host our makers market, Makers at the Museum, on the history center’s front lawn. Our remaining dates this year are May 17, June 14, Sept. 20, Oct. 18 and Nov. 15. We’ll also host our annual holiday makers market at The Englewood in Hershey, on Dec. 6.

But most of our time will be spent in E-Town. From the epiphany in March to the coincidence of space opening at the Hub on Market (we’ll be succeeding Snake & Skein, which is moving to Lancaster), this seems like destiny.

This is the right move at the right time for Stay.

I can feel it in my blood.