Katie Nelson of the Associated Press writing in the Worscester Telegram has published an article about the gradual decline of the small antique shop. As I am one of those small independent antique shops the story has a fair amount of relevance. It is focused on the New England area, but in reality is no different throughout other regions of the country. Nelson also reports on antique shows being cancelled as due to the current slow market conditions.The Nelson story is not overly long, and I am going to take the liberty of re-posting the whole article. Most of what is reported is not news to many of us, but it still reinforces the delicate nature of the antique trade at this point in time. It is worth the few minutes it takes to read.
Walking what used to be a busy trail of antiques shops in this western Connecticut hamlet now is a lonely, quiet trek. Throughout New England and the U.S., antiques dealers are having a difficult time drawing customers, canceling major shows from Boston to Minnesota as would-be buyers scale back on purchases during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. “It’s awful,” said Ann Beckman, co-owner of Grass Roots Reruns, one of more than two dozen shops operating in a row of historic Woodbury homes and rustic barns. “A lot of people have just dropped out. You have to be able to weather the storm.” A multimillion-dollar industry dominated by mom-and-pop shops and part-time enthusiasts, antiques dealers across the country are feeling the pinch. Organizers canceled the 50th anniversary Ellis Antiques Show in Boston and the Chicago Botanical Garden Antiques & Garden Fair and Preview and haven’t decided when they’ll be rescheduled. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts also canceled its 2009 show, one year after marking the event’s 25th anniversary. Connecticut’s Farmington Antiques Weekend will still take place this June 13 and 14 despite losing its major sponsor, Country Home magazine, after the publication folded this year. Organizers expect about 200 vendors and up to 5,000 shoppers during a two-day period, according to Jon Jenkins, whose family annually organizes that show and 17 others. He’s using a blog, Web site and e-mail to keep his customer base coming. Overall, sales have slowed, said Lita Solis-Cohen of the Maine Antique Digest. Small venues are faring the worst, she said, and high-end antiques are being held in reserve or are only being sold in private.
2 comments:
As a Auctiuoneer with almost 3 decades of conducting monthly antique auction experience, I can tell you exactly when the decline started.
It was September 11, 2001. My sale scedulerd for Sept. 12 2001 went ahead, but the entire auction market started to register month over month declines in value from that Date to this one.
The market decline has now (finally) found a bottom, & the optimistic message that I deliver now, is that there is still a pulse. The core collectors that are intersted in developing their private collections are still there, & they are definitley enjoying unpresidented oppotunities to buy HQ items for minimal cash outlays.
New collectors is what we need now, to stimulate competition for the rare pieces, with new money.
It may not return to the robust market of the of the late 20th century, but it will not fade away either.
&
Coin collection sales are up.
I totally agree. I noticed a change, a change that you could almost see and hear following the 9/11 tragedy. The entire world turned upside down. We were supposed to have "returned to the land and home" to enjoy simpler times but I think that the fast living of both average American's and big business put a halt to that too. We are recovering but slowly. What our antiques / collectibles / appraisal businesses need now are fresh, new collectors with money. Or is that too an oxymoron??
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