Archive for the 'real estate' Category
The End of Decorating (With Antiques)
Saturday, May 11th, 2013There was a time when we (and may other fine dealers) would supply interior designers with phenomenal loads of great antiques and decorative furnishing for display at the Kips Bay Designer Show House. It was a showcase where interiors were created to inspire one to the finest in taste, style, and quality. None of those [...]
A New Reality for Auctions, in the Decorative Arts
Tuesday, March 6th, 2012I was advised that my bashing the Duopoly auctioneers is a bit overdone. Perhaps is it, but looking at the state of divergence between the decorative and fine arts markets, these auctioneers realize which one has reduced maintenance and storage costs which tend to be pretty high and fixed, for an easier way. Now is [...]
(2) The New Economy; Decorative Arts as Assets
Saturday, August 13th, 2011I enjoyed the study of macro economics in college, but real life experiences tend to clarify how much you really don’t know (and my oversight of micro economics). It sounds a bit like being in the decorative arts business most of your life. I always believed these objects would develop an economic asset model with [...]
The New Economy; Decorative Arts as Investments
Saturday, August 6th, 2011With the latest round of stock market gyrations from the Great Recession aftermath, where can you put your money? With assets measured in stability, the home investment was always considered rock solid. Now, is it US 10 year bonds yielding 2.5%? The idea of investing in decorative art items doesn’t sound like an impossible asset [...]
Deflation in the Antiques Trade
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010The “go-go” years of the antiques trade in the 1980s relished the economy’s inflationary bias. The effect on prices for these objects was devastating, in a good way. Prices, like homes values prior to the present “Great Recession” had no where to go but up, up, up. As long as I can conceive of pricing [...]
Hoping For the Best, Antique Furniture
Saturday, February 13th, 2010In the commercial world of decorative and fine arts, the present economic environment has been tough on many areas of the industry, but especially hard on furniture. Is it price, design, or is it not minimalist enough? As one esteemed dealer at the Winter Antiques show lamented to me, was this “English furniture’s Waterloo”? In [...]
Industry Evolution
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010I start 2010 with the anticipation that it will be better than the previous year. After reading Niall Ferguson’s book, The Ascent of Money, the road to riches over time has evolved quite dramatically in form and format. So as I look ahead, where have antiques and art come from and fit into the future [...]
Antiques and the Luxury Market Today
Sunday, November 15th, 2009In the present state of the antiques market, it seems like an eternity since there was a feeling that our products could be bought and sold with any kind of rapidity. Turnover is not happening, and any sale is a welcomed event. Will this ever change; will there ever be a broad based rise in [...]
The Consignment Shop, a Format for Dealers
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009The more you think about all the different ways antiques dealers operate, the more you realize there is still one original format, the consignment shop. It’s got the best qualities of both the dealer and auctioneer; it’s a place to dispose merchandise in a consistent business pricing format. What makes this configuration work is the [...]
The Antiques Trade, Opportunities For The Next Generation
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009When I inquired if my teenage daughter was considering working at the family business any time this summer, she remarked “write a blog why I should work at Newel”. Talk about reversing the tables on who’s the boss! So it’s time for some humility and serious consideration about her, my other two sons, and wife. [...]