The results of the Chicago Summer Antiques Show, August 17-19, 2012

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.

We were very pleased with the way our booth turned out

Friday, August 17th, 1:00 pm. The show has been open one hour. There are a fair number of people here, but no sales yet to the public. I did make a sale to another dealer on the floor of the show, just prior to opening. Last year the show was fabulous, so I’m hopeful this one will go well too. I’ll write more every few hours or every day, as time permits.

Friday, 4:45 pm. Friday has been a very slow day so far. The small crowd that was here for a good part of the day is mostly gone. I’ve played so many games of Spider Solitaire, that I’m crawling out of my skin. And my chair is too hard. How’s that for complaining? Nothing happened today so far, but I’m still cautiously optimistic that the show will turn out well in the end.

Rare, large Tiffany Pine Needle clock, sold at the show

Saturday, 3:00 pm. Yesterday would have been terrible if one of my good clients hadn’t shown up toward the end of the day and made a nice purchase. I’m very lucky to have the loyal clients that I do. Thank you to each and every one of you.

I couldn’t sit down to write today until 3 PM as it was quite busy. As Murphy would have it, three of my good clients showed up at the same time, so I couldn’t spend enough time with any of them. By the time all was said and done, one of them made a nice purchase.

Important Schneider Poppy vase with padded and wheel-carved flowers, sold at the show

Sunday, 2:00 pm. Yesterday was a good day as it finished well, but it could have been better. I made two substantial sales and one smaller one, so the numbers added up. What would have been better would have been more clients. Selling to new clients and not relying so heavily on existing ones would have been ideal. Mind you, I’m not complaining, just making the observation that making smaller sales to more people would have been preferable, even if the dollar amounts were exactly the same.

Attendance was light on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 PM

Sunday started off slowly, with light attendance. I assume more people will come later in the afternoon, but I have a feeling that today will be a bust.

Sunday, 8:00 pm. The show is over and we’re relieved. It went well — not as well as last year, but last year was exceptional. Contrary to my pessimistic view of Sunday, we actually did make one sale, so it wasn’t a bust. Now we’re looking forward to the Baltimore Show this week.

A view of a small part of the Baltimore Summer Antiques Show

The important Baltimore Summer Antiques Show will start this Thursday, August 23rd, at noon, and continue for four days, until Sunday, August 26th, at 6 PM. The show is one of the best of the year, second only to the Original Miami Beach Antiques Show at the Miami Beach Convention Center in January. It’s big, with some of the world’s best exhibitors, and worth a trip from anywhere. Buyers fly in from Europe, Japan, South America, Canada, and all over the United States. The selection of hotels and restaurants is diverse and first-class. If you’ve never visited the Baltimore show, I strongly recommend it. You’ll thank me.

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. Just recently, I added about 15 new items. Here’s the link. chasenantiques.com

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