It’s 2:45 PM on Sunday and as of this moment, the show has not gone well. Gross sales have barely exceeded expenses. If I had elected not to do the show and instead stayed home and intentionally smashed a vase or two, I would have been ahead of the game. I would have saved six days of work, which included setting up the show for a day and a half, and 31½ hours of exhibiting over four days. That doesn’t count employees, gas, parking, tolls and various other expenses.
It’s a shame, because it’s a very nice show. Show management has been very friendly, helpful and professional. The show looks great. My booth location is perfect. Everything was in place to have a good show, but it didn’t happen. If expenses had been low, the results would have been acceptable, but they weren’t. I needed to sell twice as much to break even and more than that to earn anything. The purpose of exhibiting at a high-end show is to find clients who I couldn’t find otherwise and that didn’t happen either. Most of the few sales that I made were to existing clients.
A few famous people came through the show. Barbara Streisand attended the preview party. Wayne Newton was in and liked a Pairpoint puffy. His wife quickly put a stop to that. Jaclyn Smith was in and said hello.
In asking around, most of the dealers I spoke to were disappointed with their results. Two dealers I spoke to were very pleased. One glass and lamp dealer told me he had a very good day on Sunday when he sold a couple of lamps and had a wonderful show. One of the best dealers in the show said he sold an expensive painting on Sunday, so he ended up with a good show.
In October, we’ll be traveling to Chicago for the Arlington Racetrack Antiques Show and the Winnetka Antiques + Modernism show. We have wonderful clients in the greater Chicago area, so we’re looking forward to being there.
In the meantime, check the listings on my website, which I will update often. I’ll be photographing all my new Gallé and Daum purchases and listing them on my website. Recently I listed quite a few Tiffany, Handel and Pairpoint lamps and some very rare Louis Icart etchings including Melody Hour and Mardi Gras. There are also several fine Daum vases; a Daum lamp; several Galle vases; and several more Tiffany Favrile vases. Coming soon will be several wonderful European ceramic items by Clement Massier, Zsolnay and Amphora. Here’s the link. chasenantiques.com