Breaking news (or what passes for it)

The Dade City Spring Antique Faire has been cancelled due to lack of response by dealers.

The message left on our voice mail said that they'd try again in the fall, and our check would be returned to us.

Hunh.

Ready for Dade City

Unbelievably, we have 2 weekends off between shows. The last of the season is the Spring Antique Faire in Dade City, setting up Friday April 8th, and ending Sunday afternoon, April 10th.

We're hoping it's a better experience than the last show in October, which was ill attended by dealers, and augmented by an art show whose participants came and went at their whim, which affected us all as a whole. Shudder.

So I've optimistically revamped almost all of the jewelry cases, and we plan to revise our pricing on items as we unwrap them as we set up for the show.

I'm looking forward to a break.

Tell me how you REALLY feel

I've been dancing around the subject of the outcome of my attempted fundraiser for the Red Cross to support the victims of the disasters in Japan. Elsewhere, I have coached my words in civility, in serenity, and in benign acceptance of the dismal response.

The bald truth: on the day, including the $20 that my mother in Canada will be sending me, we raised a total of $59. One was a purchase from an item on the table, and two were donations by customers of the change from their transactions in buying other items we had for sale.

I was really at peace with how it had turned out. I couldn't have predicted how it had turned out; but in fact, I had hopes that almost every single person coming through the booth would read and be moved into action by our well-placed and carefully worded signs about the donation; I had hoped that the table would be picked clean by noon.

It was not to be. Indifference, vague smiles coupled with glazed-over avoidant side glances, and the sideways-crab-like shuffle away from the table that confronted people with the challenge to make a donation, however slight, to benefit the Japanese people in their time of challenge and need.

I was alright about it until about an hour ago. I was running some errands, and got to one business where I had to go through returning an item (a process which I dislike having to do, but it was unavoidable). The customer service rep is one who has worked with me in the past and who has this broad, unmistakable streak of compassion that runs through her like a swift running river. A large soul, if you will. For some reason, I found myself telling her of what had happened. And the tears started to flow.

The truth is that my heart feels broken. I had hoped to have the love and compassion that we and our fellow dealers who'd donated items to the table returned in kind by generous and enthusiastic purchases and further cash donations. It's hard for me not to feel discouraged. At the same time, I commend the dealers who helped to make the lovely table display possible, and their spirit of giving.

I think I'd like to go hide under my rock, thank you very much.

Gathering Momentum for Saturday's Fundraiser

Today I paid a social visit to my fellow antique dealer, Lisa. We did a lot of catching up since we haven't seen each since Christmas - she's been working in a shop, and I, well, haven't.

I told her of my initiative to raise funds for the Red Cross for the Japanese victims of the earthquake and tsunami. She donated an item for the sales table - thank you!!

Then the owner of the shop next door came in for our opinion on a great piece of retro bar-ware she'd come across. (Super piece.) Lisa told her of what I'm doing this weekend, and Rebecca immediately went to her shelves and started handing me Japanese-made items to put on the table to raise funds as well.

So many heart-felt gifts; and some from a perfect stranger. It was difficult for me to hold back the tears of gratitude. (OK, so I didn't hold back...) For all the bad we see in the world, there is so much good as well. I hope that we raise a bunch of awareness AND monetary donations to send to the people of Japan. I still have a couple of days left to gather some items together.

Antique Alley a Success, and a Charity Fundraising Drive Coming Up

What a glorious weekend it was. So comfortable, and everyone, it seemed, was in a good mood. Even though sales are generally lower than they've been in the past, I wouldn't dare complain - we performed admirably. Changing up our inventory selection slightly - I'd acquired what seemed like an enormous amount of crafting and sewing lace trim and applique odds and ends - they made an interesting addition to the booth. An acquaintance of ours had come by some Victorian glass doorknobs, and they sold quite briskly.

It was great to have these items that were out of the ordinary from our usual inventory - whatever is unique and unusual is what sets one dealer apart from another at these shows.

The shift in merchandising, with more emphasis on jewelry offered in simple, low volume displays, is also working well. My hunch that people become overwhelmed at the sight of too much wonderfulness seems to be true - pare the offerings down and the sales actually increase. The challenge is to keep stock easily accessible to refill once an item is sold. This time around jewelry sales accounted for 38% of our volume, and we devoted about a third of the booth space to those items, so for this show we seem to have figured it out correctly.

Personally I struggled with the crowds a bit, and was uncomfortable :-( A couple of days afterwards and I'm starting to calm down. Darn this state of anxiety.

Coming up this Saturday is the "Antiques In The Park" show in Gulfport. I've been acutely aware of the disaster in Japan, and really wanted to do something relevant and create awareness of what the local community can do to help provide much needed aid. The idea sprang fully formed to have a table of collectible items that are all made in Japan - and we are going to send 100% of the proceeds of the sales of these items to the International Red Cross Response Fund. I've already signed the Third Party Agreement (the legal stuff) so I can collect money on the Red Cross' behalf. I've even been able to recruit another dealer into donating some Japanese-made items to sell from the table, too.

The magnitude of the disaster is so overwhelming. I felt I had to come up with a creative way to raise our local community - and indeed, the antique dealer community - awareness of how we can send whatever help we can.

Round-up of Dunedin show - um, Different!

As a participant, this show has mixed reviews. The city of Dunedin's strategy, if there was one, seems to have been to combine as many events as possible into a single day. There wasn't just the Antique Fair and Classic Car show going on; but the Green Market (a farmer's market), and a Doggie Wash fundraiser, with some kind of beer-festival related activities going on at the same time. My personal feelings are that having so many diverse events happening simultaneously, all targeting different customers and interest groups, tended to detract from each other rather than add to the total experience. Although the foot (2- and 4-) traffic was quite high, there were so many people wandering about who were just Not Interested in what an Antique show had to offer. Plenty of instances of partners being "dragged along" and looking unhappy at having to spend *any* time at the stretch of road where we were set up, because they were just interested in getting their doggy washed. Or in getting to the beer. Or in buying their organic veggies for the week.

I'm thinking "cluster - " something. What's that other word? Starts with an F and rhymes with "muck"?

The weather was DIVINE. No humidity, some gusty wind just to keep us on our toes, sunshine and not too warm. It *should* have been a rockin' day for sales. BUT. But. We were at the end of a two-week period when gas prices had risen $.33 per gallon. Nothing scares our customers into frugality like rampant, rising gas prices. I swear it creates a glue to be formed in peoples' pockets, and they can't take those hands out of them, not even to pick things up to look at them.

That said - all these apparent negatives working against us - we had what is passing lately for a decent show. I only had to retreat to the van once for a panic attack and case of the weepies. (More about this development later.) We did, however, experience the first customer return since starting in this biz.

I've posted the photographs of the item in question: it's a change making machine (like we used to see bus conductors wear around their belts) that is affixed to a two-drawer bill holder. Made by the McGill Metal Products Company (still in operation), this item came from a local marina and has a great patina, some delamination, and the metal portion of the item is lightly covered with rust, as you'd expect from a piece that spent its operational life in salty, sea air.

It was the first - and fairly substantial - sale of the day. Unfortunately, 3 hours later, the customer came back with the item, saying that once he got it home and took a closer look at it, he started to suspect that it wasn't a genuine piece, but rather, made up. That is, the coin changer might have been old, but he thought the wooden base was a later and newer addition.

Er.

The label indicating who the manufacturer is, is on that suspect wooden base. How would that have happened? And how out of the question is it that McGill would make such a product? - a portable, fairly secure and rudimentary cash register, for a business like, say, a fishing charter?

We were dumbfounded at the man's claims. I started to think, though, about how many shows we'd been to and witnessed dealers in heated arguments with customers over quality and veracity of items. Everybody loses - the customer does (or doesn't) get their money refunded; the dealer gains a reputation for attempting to pass off fakes or inferior goods AND they are branded as being difficult to do business with. I know a couple of dealers who are very strong on principle... and rather low on sales volume.

No protests from us, we cheerfully refunded the customer his money, wanting him to remain happy and hoping that he will take another chance with us in the future.

In the meantime, I offer these photographs of the item in question. Pretty certain that it will find a good home, and soon enough.