TROY — For business owners Olivia Peltier and Ashley Dunlavy, opening a bridal shop in downtown Troy was a serendipitous decision.

“We own the wedding venue that was coming in next door — it was under development. This was a shoe store that moved over by Kroger. The guy who was developing and owned Lockbox owns this building as well, and he presented us with an odd idea of, ‘this building is available, you guys should get something going that will coincide with the venue,’” Dunlavy said.

That “something going” is how Modern On Market, a locally-owned bridal shop, began. The store is run by Peltier and Dunlavy with the help of two additional employees; they are open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, and are by appointment only on Sunday. Although both Peltier and Dunlavy have a background in the wedding industry, opening a bridal shop introduced them to another side of the industry.

“We learned a lot about brides and a lot more about the wedding industry than we knew previously. It’s actually really interesting, and it’s a whole other world. Even though it’s still in weddings, it’s completely different from anything else we’ve ever done, but in the best way. We absolutely love it for that reason,” Peltier said.

One of the big differences for Peltier and Dunlavy is how the experience of dress shopping is all about the bride — who she is, what she likes, and what will make her feel beautiful on her wedding day. It’s these elements that fit perfectly into the intimate setting of Modern On Market, which boasts catering an experience to a bride unlike any other from the moment they walk in the door.

“We make sure that we listen to them, we make sure that we hear how they feel, how they want their wedding day to go, and then we make sure we find that target, and that we bring that to them,” Peltier said. “It’s all about them, and I think that’s something about this industry that is so important: it is completely selfless. You have to be about that person, how they feel, what they want, what their dream is. That is the most important thing when they walk through the door, and making that happen is our end goal.”

Modern On Market offers everything that goes into styling a bride — from wedding gowns to bridal accessories such as veils, as well as bridesmaids dresses and mother of the bride dresses. While there is no seamstress employed with Modern On Market, they have two seamstresses that they will refer brides to who may be interested in having their gown fitted. Some of the brands carried are Pronovias, Calla Blanche, Sophia Tolli, Martin Thornburg, White One, Justin Alexander, Lillian West, and Willowby-Waters, and Peltier says they hope to bring in more designers in the future. The price range of gowns carried is from $800 to $4,000.

While the pandemic has impacted the wedding industry in various ways — changing it forever, in Peltier’s eyes — Modern On Market has still been faring well and continues to do so despite the uncertainty of when the pandemic will end and more traditional, large weddings and gatherings will come back into fashion. Despite Modern On Market having to shut its doors when the pandemic shutdowns started and operate without a website, they were welcomed back by the community with open arms.

“We did find that when we opened back up, people really appreciated coming in and being able to have a normal experience again. If anything, people were more about, ‘hey, we’re in love, let’s do this,’” Peltier said.