Friday afternoon, 2:15 PM, in the ballroom where my booth is located
My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday. There will be a post this Thursday about this week’s Miami National Antiques Show.
I thought it might be interesting if I gave you a contemporaneous blow by blow description of the Palm Beach Winter Antiques Show as it progresses. Here goes.
Friday, 1:00 PM. The show opened at 11 AM and I’m already crawling out of my skin. The show is off to a slow start, with very light attendance. Those few people who came to the booth never even asked to see a single item in the showcases.
Sold one good item at the preview party last night, but to the dealer in the next booth. There were very few people at the party and not one serious buyer among them.
Friday, 3:05 PM. Attendance is still very light. No serious questions. One small sale to another dealer on the floor. Played 4 games of Spider Solitaire and 10 games of Words with Friends (I’m winning many of them). Now I’m off for a walk because my rear end is flat.
Friday, 5:20 PM. There are very few buyers walking around and no questions about anything. Just doing busywork (like writing my blog). Luckily, I have a free wifi connection from the hotel.
Friday, 6:45 PM. The ballroom is almost empty, so we’ll leave five minutes early. I need a drink!
Saturday afternoon, 4 PM
Saturday, 1:00 PM. The show started off very slowly today, but the attendance has picked up a bit. I actually showed a few items to different people. They seemed more than a little reluctant, but definitely interested.
Saturday, 1:40 PM. Finally broke the ice to the public — made a small sale to a lovely older couple.
Saturday, 3:55 PM. Busy for a while. A few bona fide customers inquired about various vases, but no dice. A gentleman brought in some French cameo glass vases that I wound up buying. Made another sale to a dealer on the floor. Three of my four sales have been to dealers at the show.
Saturday 6:20 PM. There isn’t a single client walking around, so we’ll leave a little early. The show never should run to 7 PM on a Saturday night. It should have ended at 6 PM.
Sunday, 1:15 PM. I dropped Lia off at the show earlier and left to buy lunch and find a portable TV to watch the NY Giants defeat the 49ers. Did you know they’re nearly impossible to buy in a store? First I went to Walmart, then Brandsmart, then Best Buy. Finally the Best Buy salesman said he had a couple for sale in the trunk of his car. So I bought one — I hope it didn’t fall off the back of a truck. He assured me it hadn’t.
Attendance is still slow, but there have been a few questions. We’ll see if any of them turn into sales.
Another section of the show on Sunday, 4:15 PM
Sunday, 4:10 PM. One of our clients showed up — a lovely lady. She purchased several of the rarer Tiffany Studios desk pieces, so we are ending the show on a positive note. In 50 minutes, we’ll start packing up and get ready for the next one.
After all the bother with the portable TV, it didn’t work in the building. The signal was too weak and only worked outside. I called the salesman who sold it to me and he agreed to take it back.
Sunday, 8:05 PM. ESPN.com showed the results in a timely fashion, but no voice or video. The NY Giants finished the first half ahead 10-7 (Go Giants!). We finished packing and now I can go to the hotel bar and watch the second half. Did I say Go Giants?
The show was disappointing, but far from a disaster. Attendance was much lighter than I had hoped, as was interest and sales. I didn’t add everything up, but either we broke even or made a ham sandwich. That’s a lot of work for a ham sandwich. Will we do the show again? Doubtful. There’s a Pier Show in New York at the same time, with significantly lower costs for us. We could stay home in New York for an extra week and then travel to Florida for three shows, instead of four. That’s probably what we’ll wind up doing next year, but that could change.
The second show of our Florida circuit starts this Friday, January 27th, with the Miami National Antiques Show (aka The Airport Show), at the Doubletree Expo Centre, Miami Merchandise Mart, in Miami. Make your plans to visit us at any of our Florida shows. They’re filled with the best dealers and a fabulous array of merchandise that you won’t find anywhere else. The big bonus is the weather. The temperature has been in the 70s and 80s every day (while it’s 10 degrees in Chicago, as I write this). No more excuses! Make your plans now.
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A really gorgeous scenic blue Gallé vase, just in
Look around my website. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. I regularly add Tiffany vases, lamps and desk accessories, as well as French cameo glass by Galle and Daum Nancy and Louis Icart etchings. Here’s the link. chasenantiques.com