Profile of London's Alfies Antique Market

Andrew Ferren of the NY Times travel section profiles, Alfies, the large London multi dealer antique and collectibles market. The market and some of its dealers are known to spot and take advantage of buying trends in the market.

Ferren states, Open since 1976 in a former department store, Alfies has more than 70 dealers spread out over four floors. Once a refuge of dusty knick-knacks, it has swung decidedly toward the modern in recent years. Yet while antiques prices along Pimlico Road have soared, and Portobello Road has become more about people watching than treasure hunting, Alfies remains true to its Church Street merchant soul.

Dropping by the market every so often can keep design-seekers ahead of the curve. As of a few years ago, the sprawling basement gallery of the furniture dealer Decoratum (www.decoratum.com) was full of exotic-looking 1960s and ’70s rosewood and leather seating by the Brazilian designer Sergio Rodrigues, then little known outside of South America. Within months of his debut at Decoratum, Mr. Rodrigues’s furniture was turning up in the glossiest of design magazines.

To read the full NY Times article, click HERE.