We're really enjoying the new directions design is heading in this year.
Top Picks For Fall 2008 Design trends.
Rules - Out the Window!
Shabby Chic - Double Out!
Knock-offs of Originals - Out!
Matchy Matchy decor - OUT!
Themes of an Era - Out!
Minimalism - Out!
Intentional breaking of design rules - Totally IN
Industrial Moderne - IN
Unknown Originals with a Past - IN
Absurdism - IN
Futurism - More on that in a sec but I declare it IN
Excess - IN
I LOVE "in/out" lists and as long as they match my my own ideology, I love reading them.
That's why we follow certain design blogs.
I think it's a reaction against the co-opting of Mid-Century design by Mega Chains like Potterybarn/UrbanOutfitters/Anthropologie etc. One original 1940s hand carved machine/foundry mold is sexy, a shelf of 20 indentical reproduction machine cogs, never used for their intended purpose is sad. Like the 40 something posing as a teenager with surgically enhanced and rendered body parts, the 400, jeans artifically aged and embroidered with faux vintage designs. It just misses the mark. It's a little Souless.
Personally I get more joy out of a naive original painting than I ever could out of a giclee of a masterwork. Giclees are embarassing design faux pas. They scream Hobby Lobby and Wal-Mart. Poorly rendered DIY also gives me visual hives.
While shopping for a home we saw more than out fair share of HGTV inspired mis-steps. The one that stands out the most was the Gold and Purple checkerboard wall with a metallic overglaze. Very trading Spaces circa 1998. It might have been cool, possibly maybe, if the home owner had really taken it and run with it to the finish line. Unfortunately they had "finished it" with a 90s Mardi Gras poster of CATS IN MASKS (seriously??) and some purple candles. Maybe it could have gone somewhere if the furniture had somehow worked with the screwball Mardi Gras theme, but the sofa was PLAID and the coffee table was that icky sicky grandma 70s colonial maple.
There was no cheese factor, it wasn't intentional. It was just sad.
I like a little cheese. I like Absurdist Design. I like Mix-n-Match. Personally I love a 'super sounds of the 60s' streamlined sofa paired with a french wingback. I like hyper modern chrome paired with South American santos. I dig a console covered in oyster shells and coral holding framed photos of Brini Maxwell and 30s glamour shots of film stars. I don't like one painting centered on a wall, I like a collage of 10 paintings creating a wall.
Someone asked me recently 'what makes an item Hollywood Regency'? Oooh. I had to think about it. For me it's a gut feeling and I didn't have a good cut and dry answer. High gloss white consoles might be Hollywood Regency but anything in high gloss white is not automatically hollywood regency. Gilt and Goldleaf are often mixable into a Hollywood Regency look but you couldn't just spray paint anything gold and call it HWR.
Sadly I see this a lot these days. Probably the most eye-hive worthy was the spray gold patio chair. Ew. Where to start?
Cast Aluminum chairs are very cutting edge hot right now. But not all vintage cast aluminum chairs should be stripped and polished. The cabbage rose covered gaggy cast aluminum chairs from the 80s? Not HWR, never will be HWR even if stripped and polished for DAYS they'll still be covered in cabbage roses. Cabbage Roses are (not in my own book) Hollywood Regency. Cabbage Roses will always be associated with Shabby Chic and will never make the cross over to high style. Daisy Dukes will never be acceptable day wear and cabbage roses will never cross over into the light.
I think Shabby Chic will always be a downhome trailer look in my mind. Don't get me wrong, I like Southern Culture, Paula Dean is my favorite cooking chanel hostess and reruns of Designing Women are also favorite can't sleep tv picks. BUT, the southern culture on the skids look of shabby chic with never ever sit well with me. Maybe it started out well with good intentions, maybe the thought of the guest room of the old family home in Pass Christian MS was the original inspiration. White chenille bedspread, glass beaded roses in an old Gorham silver vase on the white painted bedside table, smell of faded Claire Burke drawer liners, a copy of Dinner at Antoines for sleepless night reading.
But then it was co-opted into an industry formula - Subtle florals favored by Grandmama turned into candles in every flavor and funk of comfort stench Apple Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Maple Mayhem.. cotton chenille was cheaper to produce in polyester, great grandmothers hand tatted lace and doilies could be replicated in cheap lace, faded sea grey morphed into sludgy blue, the old 200 year old corner cupboard painted and painted again by generations of wives was replicated with chippy paint.. somehow silk flowers got mixed in.
Honey, silk flowers are for graves when you can't get out to visit very often. And even then you ought to have the decency to feel a twinge of guilt about leaving fakes on a grave. It's not right.
I did grow up with a family home in Pass Christian and a Southern branch. Grandmother from Altanta and Grandfather from Beulah, La. I get Southern culture. "Shabby Chic" as a look has devolved into a tacky-bad fake. Luckily my other set of grandparents were Ct Yankees who retired to Florida, I think I got the best of both worlds.
So currently I'm veering towards absurdist decor. It's one of those things you either get and will realize you've always liked pairing a collection of toy robots on a florentine side table or you don't get it and will secretly hate it.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Milo Fauxman
Fake-n-bake!
There are Lots of things I would call pet peeves. I'm a hot mess of pet peeves, one of them is stores selling items as a particular designer when they know they aren't.
Milo Baughman is the new hotness and has been for a while, his pieces are only going up in value. Which means: Bring on the FAKES!
Charles and Ray Eames being the Power Couple of Mid-Century design generated a lot of misleading buzzwords, EAMES ERA being the biggest and most used. But we've seen some really bad doozies from people trying to cash in on the mid century buzz. My favorite has to be the time a lady at the City Wide Garage Sale/Flea Market (I don't get the Flea Market tag, but they use it in their ads so whatever..)
Anyways, little old lady tells me quite earnestly that the fiberglass chair I'm looking at is a Howard Eames. "Reeeeeally?" How fascinating, I didn't know Herman Miller's father (brother?) had married someone in the Eames family. Freakin fascinating. And how much is that late 60s space age fiberglass resin coated chair mfg in Texas and sold as architectural furniture to mall foodcourts across America? Oh, 1200. Well that's reasonable! What a fool I was to sell 6 of them for 300 each. I coulda been rich as midas!
I had 6 genuine Howard Eames in my hot little paws!
Now, I may sound like a total bitch for ripping on this poor sweet thing, but A. I've seen her around, she's not poor nor sweet, and B. I think if you are going to sell something for over a few hundred at least get a clue and pretend to care about what you are selling.
Then there is willful misrepresentation. While I get a sad little laugh out of people selling crappy Krueger chairs as Eames Era Shell Chairs, I get steamed when I see someone selling something as one thing when they know for a fact that it isn't.
Craigslist in any city is a good one for a large cross section of solid examples.
There are the ChromCraft Vladimir Kagan chairs for 500. each, Kagan never designed for Chromcraft. There are the Hollywood Regency designed dressers, H-R is a style not a Designer.
And yesterday another dealer sent me a classic craigslist posting: a godawful 70s maple colonial tea table thing listed as, kid you not, Dorothy Draper tea table.. What are you people smoking?? And gimme some.
Here's a classic example of how wistful thinking, turns into pigheaded stupidity, into resignation and acceptance and finally to willful misrepresentation:
Last year someone outside of Houston was selling a "Milo Baughman Chrome Sofa" for 1200. Then a month or two after no one was interested, they contacted me. I pointed out that while it was a good looking sofa, it was not Baughman and the price (even reduced to 800.) was not for me.
Then a few weeks later a dealer in Houston contacted me, he had a similar story, the Faux baughman, hence forth to be known as "the Fauxman" was being offered to him for 600.) He also informed the owner that it was not a Baughman, probably made by Pace, but not everything made by Pace was designed by Baughman and this piece wasn't.
Then the guy widened his net, he had had 4 (he had contacted a few in Dallas too) reputable dealers in Texas turn him down and tell him is wasn't a Baughman. Now he was contacting dealers out of state, still clinging to either the hope that we were all out to screw him, or we were out to screw him. I don't know.
So a few months after I had turned him down a dealer in Washington DC who I stay in touch with emails me and tells me there is a good looking sofa near me that I ought to look at. It's the Fauxman, still being touted as a Baughman but with missing tags due to reupholstery sometime in the 60s (Baughman didn't get heavily into chrome until the 70s, now the price is 400.
And now I'm simply sick of hearing about this thing.
Dealers across the country have been offered this thing, and it's not a bad looking sofa in the least, but it's not a Baughman and it's not something any of us would sell as such.
4 months later it pops back up on Craigslist. It's the sofa that won't GO AWAY. Now it's 300. A three hundred dollar sofa with chrome trim and newish upholstery is a good deal and it gets sold relatively quickly.
It's been a YEAR since I received the first email about this sofa. It is now sitting in an antique mall in North Texas, marked MILO BAUGHMAN Sofa, $1200.
I have to admit my jaw dropped it was too sad and sadly hilarious to be anything but... well... sad.
Jumpin Penguins on a pogostick.
But then we're seeing this a lot. Milo Baughman-Like, In the Style of MB, Era, Style, Design, Type....
The list goes on.
What to do? Well, if the price is in your range and it's what you were looking for and you like it, buy it.
But, if the price is for the name and there is no label or documentation, reputable dealers will recommend due diligence. Do a websearch, most of Baughman's designs are well documented. This is what a reputable dealer will do before placing an attribution on an item. It's part of what we are paid for, we spend hours researching, wads of cash on reference books and back catalogs of certain mfgs, we stand by our items.
Its a matter of pride to say, I specialize in this.
We have a return policy and it goes like this: All Sales Final. HOWEVER, we do back up our items attributed to designers. If I sell you an "Unmarked Jere" and it turns out it was offered in the 76 Sears Catalog, I owe you a refund and an apology. And by the by, very few Jere pieces are unmarked.
Designers cost money because there are 50,000 'eames era and eames style' items for every one Eames designed piece. And I am not ok with selling an item as an Eames Design when it isn't. I think it's lying, I think it's dumb, and I think my own reputation is worth more than the sale.
Sad but true, part of the reason so many higher end mid century dealers shy away from referring to themselves as "vintage" dealers is due to the large number of mis represented items in the Vintage category on craigslist, ebay, garage sales , estate sales and flea markets.
Some people simply don't care. Once while chatting with a friend in a mall I noticed a footstool in her booth, marked "Eames Era Footstool 49.00" as casually as I could I said, "you know, they had those on sale at Target about 6 months ago.. " She says oh I know, but it's so cheap no one will care.
Um. Well, for starters, they were on sale for 26.00 new, and then for middles, you're supposed to be miss mid-century, and for finishers, screw price, you know its new and you don't care?
Gee, hate to be a stick in the mud, but guess what? you're an ass!
On the other hand, I know someone else who gets great vintage and mid century stuff all the time, sells everything a discount, does a wide range of items and she has no problem selling Ikea pieces on the rare occasion and I think for her it's perfectly fine. Why? Because she always marks the item "NOT VINTAGE, IKEA" Which I think is a smart and up front way to go about ya business.
I digress, back to Milo Baughman Fauxman..... I'm not going to publish here all the info I've gathered on Baughman, I paid for it and it's not like people are going to pay me to share it. That old adage that 'knowledge is power' is a good one.
Keep in mind that just because Baughman designed for such and such company, does not mean that he designed EVERYTHING for that company. Usually the tag will say something to the effect of "Thayer Coggin - Designed by Milo Baughman" there is little room for doubt.
There are several companies Baughman NEVER designed for, 2 being Henredon and Lane. Lane and Henredon both copied Baughman's designs but never copied the Quality, which is what Baughman is all about.
There are several places on the internet that have lots of images of lots of Baughman pieces, one being 1stdibs.com. I recommend 1stdibs.com because a dealer will lose their spot on 1stdibs if they don't know their business backwards and forwards and their reputations are EVERYTHING to them. They have no room for willful stupidity.
Also, there is a lot of talk about the Baughman Elipse rocker, it's a pretty little chrome thing, two ovals supporting a padded sling. These were attributed to Baughman a few years ago and were selling in the 2500 to 3k range. Some savy dealer found the original Stendig ad for the rocker proving it was no Baughman.
It's a good looking rocker, I own one and they're comfortable too. But it's not a Baughman.
Stendig was a great company that did numerous high quality originals and "in the style ofs", there were even a few "name brand" companies that used Stendig as a mfg at one time or another.
We have 3 Stendig pieces in our collection at home and they're keepers one and all.
There is no shame in owning a copy. I'd love to have nothing but originals, but we have a large and varied group of friends and we want them to sit wherever they like. We're also not fabulously wealthy enough to skim all the best pieces we find for ourselves.
So don't misunderstand, buy all the period copies and in the style ofs you want, just don't over pay for one!
There are Lots of things I would call pet peeves. I'm a hot mess of pet peeves, one of them is stores selling items as a particular designer when they know they aren't.
Milo Baughman is the new hotness and has been for a while, his pieces are only going up in value. Which means: Bring on the FAKES!
Charles and Ray Eames being the Power Couple of Mid-Century design generated a lot of misleading buzzwords, EAMES ERA being the biggest and most used. But we've seen some really bad doozies from people trying to cash in on the mid century buzz. My favorite has to be the time a lady at the City Wide Garage Sale/Flea Market (I don't get the Flea Market tag, but they use it in their ads so whatever..)
Anyways, little old lady tells me quite earnestly that the fiberglass chair I'm looking at is a Howard Eames. "Reeeeeally?" How fascinating, I didn't know Herman Miller's father (brother?) had married someone in the Eames family. Freakin fascinating. And how much is that late 60s space age fiberglass resin coated chair mfg in Texas and sold as architectural furniture to mall foodcourts across America? Oh, 1200. Well that's reasonable! What a fool I was to sell 6 of them for 300 each. I coulda been rich as midas!
I had 6 genuine Howard Eames in my hot little paws!
Now, I may sound like a total bitch for ripping on this poor sweet thing, but A. I've seen her around, she's not poor nor sweet, and B. I think if you are going to sell something for over a few hundred at least get a clue and pretend to care about what you are selling.
Then there is willful misrepresentation. While I get a sad little laugh out of people selling crappy Krueger chairs as Eames Era Shell Chairs, I get steamed when I see someone selling something as one thing when they know for a fact that it isn't.
Craigslist in any city is a good one for a large cross section of solid examples.
There are the ChromCraft Vladimir Kagan chairs for 500. each, Kagan never designed for Chromcraft. There are the Hollywood Regency designed dressers, H-R is a style not a Designer.
And yesterday another dealer sent me a classic craigslist posting: a godawful 70s maple colonial tea table thing listed as, kid you not, Dorothy Draper tea table.. What are you people smoking?? And gimme some.
Here's a classic example of how wistful thinking, turns into pigheaded stupidity, into resignation and acceptance and finally to willful misrepresentation:
Last year someone outside of Houston was selling a "Milo Baughman Chrome Sofa" for 1200. Then a month or two after no one was interested, they contacted me. I pointed out that while it was a good looking sofa, it was not Baughman and the price (even reduced to 800.) was not for me.
Then a few weeks later a dealer in Houston contacted me, he had a similar story, the Faux baughman, hence forth to be known as "the Fauxman" was being offered to him for 600.) He also informed the owner that it was not a Baughman, probably made by Pace, but not everything made by Pace was designed by Baughman and this piece wasn't.
Then the guy widened his net, he had had 4 (he had contacted a few in Dallas too) reputable dealers in Texas turn him down and tell him is wasn't a Baughman. Now he was contacting dealers out of state, still clinging to either the hope that we were all out to screw him, or we were out to screw him. I don't know.
So a few months after I had turned him down a dealer in Washington DC who I stay in touch with emails me and tells me there is a good looking sofa near me that I ought to look at. It's the Fauxman, still being touted as a Baughman but with missing tags due to reupholstery sometime in the 60s (Baughman didn't get heavily into chrome until the 70s, now the price is 400.
And now I'm simply sick of hearing about this thing.
Dealers across the country have been offered this thing, and it's not a bad looking sofa in the least, but it's not a Baughman and it's not something any of us would sell as such.
4 months later it pops back up on Craigslist. It's the sofa that won't GO AWAY. Now it's 300. A three hundred dollar sofa with chrome trim and newish upholstery is a good deal and it gets sold relatively quickly.
It's been a YEAR since I received the first email about this sofa. It is now sitting in an antique mall in North Texas, marked MILO BAUGHMAN Sofa, $1200.
I have to admit my jaw dropped it was too sad and sadly hilarious to be anything but... well... sad.
Jumpin Penguins on a pogostick.
But then we're seeing this a lot. Milo Baughman-Like, In the Style of MB, Era, Style, Design, Type....
The list goes on.
What to do? Well, if the price is in your range and it's what you were looking for and you like it, buy it.
But, if the price is for the name and there is no label or documentation, reputable dealers will recommend due diligence. Do a websearch, most of Baughman's designs are well documented. This is what a reputable dealer will do before placing an attribution on an item. It's part of what we are paid for, we spend hours researching, wads of cash on reference books and back catalogs of certain mfgs, we stand by our items.
Its a matter of pride to say, I specialize in this.
We have a return policy and it goes like this: All Sales Final. HOWEVER, we do back up our items attributed to designers. If I sell you an "Unmarked Jere" and it turns out it was offered in the 76 Sears Catalog, I owe you a refund and an apology. And by the by, very few Jere pieces are unmarked.
Designers cost money because there are 50,000 'eames era and eames style' items for every one Eames designed piece. And I am not ok with selling an item as an Eames Design when it isn't. I think it's lying, I think it's dumb, and I think my own reputation is worth more than the sale.
Sad but true, part of the reason so many higher end mid century dealers shy away from referring to themselves as "vintage" dealers is due to the large number of mis represented items in the Vintage category on craigslist, ebay, garage sales , estate sales and flea markets.
Some people simply don't care. Once while chatting with a friend in a mall I noticed a footstool in her booth, marked "Eames Era Footstool 49.00" as casually as I could I said, "you know, they had those on sale at Target about 6 months ago.. " She says oh I know, but it's so cheap no one will care.
Um. Well, for starters, they were on sale for 26.00 new, and then for middles, you're supposed to be miss mid-century, and for finishers, screw price, you know its new and you don't care?
Gee, hate to be a stick in the mud, but guess what? you're an ass!
On the other hand, I know someone else who gets great vintage and mid century stuff all the time, sells everything a discount, does a wide range of items and she has no problem selling Ikea pieces on the rare occasion and I think for her it's perfectly fine. Why? Because she always marks the item "NOT VINTAGE, IKEA" Which I think is a smart and up front way to go about ya business.
I digress, back to Milo Baughman Fauxman..... I'm not going to publish here all the info I've gathered on Baughman, I paid for it and it's not like people are going to pay me to share it. That old adage that 'knowledge is power' is a good one.
Keep in mind that just because Baughman designed for such and such company, does not mean that he designed EVERYTHING for that company. Usually the tag will say something to the effect of "Thayer Coggin - Designed by Milo Baughman" there is little room for doubt.
There are several companies Baughman NEVER designed for, 2 being Henredon and Lane. Lane and Henredon both copied Baughman's designs but never copied the Quality, which is what Baughman is all about.
There are several places on the internet that have lots of images of lots of Baughman pieces, one being 1stdibs.com. I recommend 1stdibs.com because a dealer will lose their spot on 1stdibs if they don't know their business backwards and forwards and their reputations are EVERYTHING to them. They have no room for willful stupidity.
Also, there is a lot of talk about the Baughman Elipse rocker, it's a pretty little chrome thing, two ovals supporting a padded sling. These were attributed to Baughman a few years ago and were selling in the 2500 to 3k range. Some savy dealer found the original Stendig ad for the rocker proving it was no Baughman.
It's a good looking rocker, I own one and they're comfortable too. But it's not a Baughman.
Stendig was a great company that did numerous high quality originals and "in the style ofs", there were even a few "name brand" companies that used Stendig as a mfg at one time or another.
We have 3 Stendig pieces in our collection at home and they're keepers one and all.
There is no shame in owning a copy. I'd love to have nothing but originals, but we have a large and varied group of friends and we want them to sit wherever they like. We're also not fabulously wealthy enough to skim all the best pieces we find for ourselves.
So don't misunderstand, buy all the period copies and in the style ofs you want, just don't over pay for one!
Friday, January 25, 2008
Ahh the funny web we weave
It's still cold and still wet. STILL! What happened to the ol "it's Texas, don't like the weather? Give it a minute" chestnut.
Went to an estate this morning.
I don't generally do estates. There is a scam for every transaction in life and one of the estate scams is for someone who likes a particular era to place a bunch of ads in the yellow pages advertising estate sales(with their favorite items as their "specialty"), they come out, they cherry pick your goods and palm you off on someone else who actually runs estates. It's sleazy.
Word of advice: In general, a store owner cannot run an honest estate sale for you. It's a conflict of interest. It just doesn't work.
This particular estate was run by REAL estate sale ladies, they are honest and do nothing but handle estate sales. I'd recommend them to anyone who needed estate sale services. They are very motivated to make money for the estate and don't play favorites.
It's cold, it's wet, I have cabin fever and I'm not in a rush to open today so I stopped by their estate sale for giggles and a little socializing. The usual cast of characters stood around in the rain waiting for opening. I like that these ladies used to allow a preview before the opening. Note the use of the word USED TO.
Apparently some jackheaded idiot tried an annoying little scam before opening. It's not unusual for there to be several people who can't just tow the line.
For example:
There is the lady who has been known to snatch all the pieces of costume jewelry and crouch over them on the floor so she can go through them first.. There are several who will always show up the night before an advertised sale and try to talk their way in because they are "going out of town early the next day" etc etc There is the psycho who will LOCK herself in a back bedroom with all the vintage clothing so she can sort through it at her leisure. The nut who stashes stuff under beds so he can retrieve it on last day at 50% off. The list goes on and ON.
Sadly this list can probably apply to any group of hardcore estate salers in the US.
Petty BS. I've been known to fume over someone who consistently scams their way through estates, but what can you do? I wait my turn and take my chances like (almost) everyone else.
So back to the estate. Someone had pulled price tags off of several items and had stashed the unmarked items in 'hiding places' all over the place. I'm sure I really cheesed someone off when I walked through 5 minutes before preview ended and found the easter eggs and asked that they be priced before the sale started. By the third item, they realized that there was a ton of stuff that had 'lost' it's tag or had been moved across the house.
What did I care, I was 45th in line and probably didn't have a snowballs chance at it anyways.
Sometimes luck works in mysterious ways. Who ever did the tag removing and the stashing, and I have a good idea of who it was, had selected a bunch of items I myself would have selected. So when Barbara came outside and announced to the assembled crew that there would be no more previews in the future due to the stashing of items... I guess the guilty party then felt that they couldn't pick up the items that had been set aside, lest they implicate themselves. Leaving them all for me. Yeah!
So even though most estates sales are for the birds or the hardcore, this one turned out to be a rather good one for me.
Went to an estate this morning.
I don't generally do estates. There is a scam for every transaction in life and one of the estate scams is for someone who likes a particular era to place a bunch of ads in the yellow pages advertising estate sales(with their favorite items as their "specialty"), they come out, they cherry pick your goods and palm you off on someone else who actually runs estates. It's sleazy.
Word of advice: In general, a store owner cannot run an honest estate sale for you. It's a conflict of interest. It just doesn't work.
This particular estate was run by REAL estate sale ladies, they are honest and do nothing but handle estate sales. I'd recommend them to anyone who needed estate sale services. They are very motivated to make money for the estate and don't play favorites.
It's cold, it's wet, I have cabin fever and I'm not in a rush to open today so I stopped by their estate sale for giggles and a little socializing. The usual cast of characters stood around in the rain waiting for opening. I like that these ladies used to allow a preview before the opening. Note the use of the word USED TO.
Apparently some jackheaded idiot tried an annoying little scam before opening. It's not unusual for there to be several people who can't just tow the line.
For example:
There is the lady who has been known to snatch all the pieces of costume jewelry and crouch over them on the floor so she can go through them first.. There are several who will always show up the night before an advertised sale and try to talk their way in because they are "going out of town early the next day" etc etc There is the psycho who will LOCK herself in a back bedroom with all the vintage clothing so she can sort through it at her leisure. The nut who stashes stuff under beds so he can retrieve it on last day at 50% off. The list goes on and ON.
Sadly this list can probably apply to any group of hardcore estate salers in the US.
Petty BS. I've been known to fume over someone who consistently scams their way through estates, but what can you do? I wait my turn and take my chances like (almost) everyone else.
So back to the estate. Someone had pulled price tags off of several items and had stashed the unmarked items in 'hiding places' all over the place. I'm sure I really cheesed someone off when I walked through 5 minutes before preview ended and found the easter eggs and asked that they be priced before the sale started. By the third item, they realized that there was a ton of stuff that had 'lost' it's tag or had been moved across the house.
What did I care, I was 45th in line and probably didn't have a snowballs chance at it anyways.
Sometimes luck works in mysterious ways. Who ever did the tag removing and the stashing, and I have a good idea of who it was, had selected a bunch of items I myself would have selected. So when Barbara came outside and announced to the assembled crew that there would be no more previews in the future due to the stashing of items... I guess the guilty party then felt that they couldn't pick up the items that had been set aside, lest they implicate themselves. Leaving them all for me. Yeah!
So even though most estates sales are for the birds or the hardcore, this one turned out to be a rather good one for me.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
To Market to market
It's still cold, it's still wet, and I'm still stuck inside.
Boohoo. Did go out earlier and thought I'd become a human popsicle while trying to pump gas.
Never underestimate wind chill!
Dallas Design Market was this past weekend and apparently a few of the hot trends this year are: Organic woods (think 'Nakashima style' for people who haven't heard of Nakashima yet) good looking free edge coffeetables, thick solid pieces. Or knotty jumbled leg organic dining tables.
We've been mixing in free edge pieces for a while and it can hold it's own beautifully with mid century and eclectic furnishings, so I'm happy to hear it's a new lease for an old design trend. Orange and Tangerine are still holding strong, as is the right shade of red. D describes it as a not in your face red... so just say no to "Jungle Red" I guess.
Mid Range and low end Mid Century has been on a decline for a while, so much has been knocked off and cheaply reproduced by the evil empire...
It's been a 'look' for 20 years, it had to go eventually. I don't see ebony, rosewood and quality case pieces going anywhere though.. quality can go anywhere and fit right in.
A&H's reopening is Sat night and C. has invited me to a private party for a modern home builder this weekend as well. I'm not into being social so I have to start getting on a game face NOW so I don't back out at the last minute on Saturday.
Currently the dogs are taking turns tracking mud in and out of the house while I half watch a documentary on Divine and try and send out invoices at the same time.
Someone is going to get a 1500. invoice for Polyester Flamingos if I don't focus on one thing or another....
Had a new stamp made for our hang tags. Big excitement of the day! The guys over at Howl have been using the best hang tag "decorate like you give a damn", I am a huge Howl fan. Their store is edited within an inch of it's life and they do it SO WELL!
In several of the interviews we've done over the years I always talk about the soul of a piece or how certain iconic pieces have a soul or a quality that is missing from the newer reproductions. The new pieces lack soul. I'm all about soulful furnishings. Recently someone sent me a snippet of a online commercial for another store that carries some mid century. Part of the voice over was blah blah blah, furniture with soul, blah blah blah.
I know that I was supposed to feel annoyed. But seriously, I can't be the only person who looks at furniture as having a soul. My customers get it, which may mean they have the same thought process.
What can you do? I look at it as flattery if it was lifted and a 'great minds...' moment if we both had the same thought.
There was a period this summer when someone named X was trying to use our store name with the word mid-century inserted between Austin and Modern. Oh no, that's not confusing at all... Derr!
Sometimes I have a hard time seeing how people do some of the things they do.
I've known X on a first name basis for years and so I was really disappointed by X's decision to stoop so low to ride our coat tails. It's just Tacky. We've since rectified the problem and X has chosen a more original store name.
Words of advice for new business owners:
A) Stand on your own two feet. Don't use other peoples personalities, website copy, business names or concepts as your own. If you can't blaze your own individual trail, indie small biz may not be for you. Chains copy, indies inovate. It's a mantra. know it, learn it, love it.
B) A store manager with a cruddy personality will drag you down faster than cement shoes. This one applies to ALL businesses.
I've sold three items while writing this, isn't the internet grand??
Boohoo. Did go out earlier and thought I'd become a human popsicle while trying to pump gas.
Never underestimate wind chill!
Dallas Design Market was this past weekend and apparently a few of the hot trends this year are: Organic woods (think 'Nakashima style' for people who haven't heard of Nakashima yet) good looking free edge coffeetables, thick solid pieces. Or knotty jumbled leg organic dining tables.
We've been mixing in free edge pieces for a while and it can hold it's own beautifully with mid century and eclectic furnishings, so I'm happy to hear it's a new lease for an old design trend. Orange and Tangerine are still holding strong, as is the right shade of red. D describes it as a not in your face red... so just say no to "Jungle Red" I guess.
Mid Range and low end Mid Century has been on a decline for a while, so much has been knocked off and cheaply reproduced by the evil empire...
It's been a 'look' for 20 years, it had to go eventually. I don't see ebony, rosewood and quality case pieces going anywhere though.. quality can go anywhere and fit right in.
A&H's reopening is Sat night and C. has invited me to a private party for a modern home builder this weekend as well. I'm not into being social so I have to start getting on a game face NOW so I don't back out at the last minute on Saturday.
Currently the dogs are taking turns tracking mud in and out of the house while I half watch a documentary on Divine and try and send out invoices at the same time.
Someone is going to get a 1500. invoice for Polyester Flamingos if I don't focus on one thing or another....
Had a new stamp made for our hang tags. Big excitement of the day! The guys over at Howl have been using the best hang tag "decorate like you give a damn", I am a huge Howl fan. Their store is edited within an inch of it's life and they do it SO WELL!
In several of the interviews we've done over the years I always talk about the soul of a piece or how certain iconic pieces have a soul or a quality that is missing from the newer reproductions. The new pieces lack soul. I'm all about soulful furnishings. Recently someone sent me a snippet of a online commercial for another store that carries some mid century. Part of the voice over was blah blah blah, furniture with soul, blah blah blah.
I know that I was supposed to feel annoyed. But seriously, I can't be the only person who looks at furniture as having a soul. My customers get it, which may mean they have the same thought process.
What can you do? I look at it as flattery if it was lifted and a 'great minds...' moment if we both had the same thought.
There was a period this summer when someone named X was trying to use our store name with the word mid-century inserted between Austin and Modern. Oh no, that's not confusing at all... Derr!
Sometimes I have a hard time seeing how people do some of the things they do.
I've known X on a first name basis for years and so I was really disappointed by X's decision to stoop so low to ride our coat tails. It's just Tacky. We've since rectified the problem and X has chosen a more original store name.
Words of advice for new business owners:
A) Stand on your own two feet. Don't use other peoples personalities, website copy, business names or concepts as your own. If you can't blaze your own individual trail, indie small biz may not be for you. Chains copy, indies inovate. It's a mantra. know it, learn it, love it.
B) A store manager with a cruddy personality will drag you down faster than cement shoes. This one applies to ALL businesses.
I've sold three items while writing this, isn't the internet grand??
Monday, January 21, 2008
Rain Day!
Yes! It's raining and miserably cold today. Usually this is a drawback but on a Monday when I'm not scheduled to work the store, rain and cold means a self imposed "REAL" day off.
Real day off involves no driving, no work emails, no shipping or packing items destined for out of state buyers, no telephone calls about work....
Just me, the pups, a good book and a cup of tea. Bliss.
I don't generally get a whole day off, I can put off work for a few hours in the morning and play catch up until late in the evening, but a real, whole day off is rare.
The kids are having fun making mom nuts today.
So far Spencer has chased 4 squirrels in the back yard and jumped in and out of the fireplace to stare up the flue, trailing ashes everywhere! Fergus did his part by finding a random tube of oil paint and quietly gnawing on it while lounging on his favorite Rya rug. Well, at least he chose a matching color... Dogs.
Feb is going to be a busy month, I've got family coming in from around the country, I've got to run down to Miami for the Modernism show, I have a couple industry events I have to attend here and a friend is throwing his annual casino night.
But today is a day off. Which means Jim is coming home to a full dinner. We're design nuts first and foodheads second. We've been addicted to the avocado miso soup at the new sushi place in the Arboretum, it's in the same price range as Uchi but is closer to home for us. We dig going downtown to the drafthouse and to some of the jazz clubs but for the most part we get a kick out of staying at home and cooking or going over to other friend's houses for cocktails.
We're thinking about starting a dinner club. R. is constantly inviting us over for the most fabulous meals and so at the last dinner party we kicked around the idea of everyone taking a turn hosting each month. It's kind of a retro idea.
The neighborhood we've bought into consists of retired IBMers and other older tech folks, the neighborhood was spankin new in the 60s and 70s and all the houses are designed for entertaining.
We haven't had a party yet but we did have some people over for cocktails and our friend R, gave us the best compliment. He said "I love your house, it's like being at a private party at MOMA!" How cool was that?
We'd like to have a party in the spring as soon as the weather levels off, just friends and some good customers. Luckily the backyard is well set up for entertaining.
A. from the store down the street called, they're having a grand re-opening party sat night, can't wait.
Heard it through the grapevine that a vintage store down south is shuttering up next month. That's too bad, but they had only been open for a few years and this market has been a real bugaboo for a lot of new stores. We've heard about a couple others that are on shaky ground but this market is tough. Was it Mad Max with the whole 'two go in, one comes out' mantra? We'll see a few more closures before the fat lady sings.
Ok, so back to food. It's cold and rainy so something hot.. I think Mushroom soup, garlic bread, and blue cheese & endive salad sounds like a plan. Jim cracks me up, he "hates blue cheese" but if you make it fresh and don't use the jar stuff he loves it. He claims he's not a sugar fan, but if I leave a pint of gelatto in the freezer it seems to dwindle in short order.
Real day off involves no driving, no work emails, no shipping or packing items destined for out of state buyers, no telephone calls about work....
Just me, the pups, a good book and a cup of tea. Bliss.
I don't generally get a whole day off, I can put off work for a few hours in the morning and play catch up until late in the evening, but a real, whole day off is rare.
The kids are having fun making mom nuts today.
So far Spencer has chased 4 squirrels in the back yard and jumped in and out of the fireplace to stare up the flue, trailing ashes everywhere! Fergus did his part by finding a random tube of oil paint and quietly gnawing on it while lounging on his favorite Rya rug. Well, at least he chose a matching color... Dogs.
Feb is going to be a busy month, I've got family coming in from around the country, I've got to run down to Miami for the Modernism show, I have a couple industry events I have to attend here and a friend is throwing his annual casino night.
But today is a day off. Which means Jim is coming home to a full dinner. We're design nuts first and foodheads second. We've been addicted to the avocado miso soup at the new sushi place in the Arboretum, it's in the same price range as Uchi but is closer to home for us. We dig going downtown to the drafthouse and to some of the jazz clubs but for the most part we get a kick out of staying at home and cooking or going over to other friend's houses for cocktails.
We're thinking about starting a dinner club. R. is constantly inviting us over for the most fabulous meals and so at the last dinner party we kicked around the idea of everyone taking a turn hosting each month. It's kind of a retro idea.
The neighborhood we've bought into consists of retired IBMers and other older tech folks, the neighborhood was spankin new in the 60s and 70s and all the houses are designed for entertaining.
We haven't had a party yet but we did have some people over for cocktails and our friend R, gave us the best compliment. He said "I love your house, it's like being at a private party at MOMA!" How cool was that?
We'd like to have a party in the spring as soon as the weather levels off, just friends and some good customers. Luckily the backyard is well set up for entertaining.
A. from the store down the street called, they're having a grand re-opening party sat night, can't wait.
Heard it through the grapevine that a vintage store down south is shuttering up next month. That's too bad, but they had only been open for a few years and this market has been a real bugaboo for a lot of new stores. We've heard about a couple others that are on shaky ground but this market is tough. Was it Mad Max with the whole 'two go in, one comes out' mantra? We'll see a few more closures before the fat lady sings.
Ok, so back to food. It's cold and rainy so something hot.. I think Mushroom soup, garlic bread, and blue cheese & endive salad sounds like a plan. Jim cracks me up, he "hates blue cheese" but if you make it fresh and don't use the jar stuff he loves it. He claims he's not a sugar fan, but if I leave a pint of gelatto in the freezer it seems to dwindle in short order.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Best Price and Just browsing
I'm trying really hard not to turn the blog into a "how not to conduct yourself" but I have to post a little something about asking for best price.
Dealer/Industry discount is 10%. Think about that for a second or two. Between friends and Peers, fellow business owners in the trade get 10% off. The lady who I do a lot of business with, 100s of dollars at a throw, will give me 10% off. The lady whom I adore as a person and drop in and chat with regularly , from whom I have been buying from for YEARS, will give me a whole 10% off. Think about this before reading any further.
"Best price" is a loaded question, my best price and the customers best price are two very different things. My best price is: Sell one a week and that covers all my operating costs, and that's just stupid and unrealistic. The customer's imagined 'best price' usually falls somewhere between 50% and 75% off the tag price, and that's just stupid too.
There is a good deal of work in simply pricing an item, condition, rarity, size, "mintyness", color, geographic location, all angles are considered when pricing an item. What might sell in Houston for a grand will wither and die in Austin at a penny above 600.
We don't just open "The Book" and flip to page 224 and say 'yep right. Here it is.. Heywake Rio Vanity, Champagne, Original Mirror, 1/2" Chip top right rear, piece of grey lint in bottom left drawer, found within 5 miles of store, no work required, pulled left deltoid loading it out of truck, paid X = "$450. list price"' (Stop laughing, Ronn)
What really is best price? And when should you ask for it? Realistically.
'Best price', 'volume discount' and 'cash price' are all terms that shouldn't be used in a retail location. It's tacky, and it means you shop for a bargain first and something that speaks to you second. You are a garage saler and you love to 'get one over' on people. I really despise that.
Nothing makes me want to retch faster than the guy who found a Nelson clock at a garage sale marked 30. but couldn't help putting the screws to the old girl to get it for 20., it doesn't make you cool or savy. It makes you an ass. If you find a good deal, buy it and thank the universe later, don't make it a triumph of your 'mad bargaining skillz'.
Best Price and Cash Price are really terms used for Flea Markets, Garage Sales, Craigslist, and low level "Antique and Kountry Kraft" shows.
Cash price might do something for you if you are talking to someone who needs gas money to haul their stuff home, or pocket money to grab a few beers after the show. But realistically, you paying cash today or me getting paid by the credit card company 3 days later doesn't make a big difference to me.
No Tax. This is lame, if you don't pay the tax, I pay the tax and I don't want to pay your tax for you. If you can't afford the tax I'm not sure if I want to do business with you on a regular basis. I do enough business that I can pay an honest accountant to keep my books legally above the board, she'll make me pay the tax even if I don't want to because it's my butt in a sling if I get caught, and I pay her to keep my butt right where it is. Playing pattycake with the IRS is not worth the sale. 'No tax' means no dice for you.
Discounting is something you do for a good steady regular customer on occasion, it's not something you want to do all the time and the people that want to start their relationship with you as a discount customer are not going to be your best customer.
Which brings us back to best price. To begin with "Best Price" is your "worst choice" of words.
Do NOT ask Best Price when someone tells you "it just came in", just came in is a signal that the item is new to my store, it's fresh to the market and you have no bargaining power.
On the other hand, if you've been looking at it for weeks, so have I, and you could ask about 'wiggle room'. I personally like the words wiggle room, wiggle does not imply a 10,000 league boot of deep discounting. It means a little to one side. It's sort of sweet, like a puppy. Puppies are cute, I like dogs, and wiggle room means that you understand how it really works.
No one is out to make a financial killing in the vintage market, we do it because we like it and if we make a small living along the way, well hip hop hooray for us.
'Best price' grates on my last nerve, it suggests that you are a hard bitten haggler. I don't like haggling. Other dealers love to see me coming because I almost never want to play lets make a deal with them. I can make up my own mind all by myself if it's a good price and if it's within my budget. If it's in my budget asking for an additional discount doesn't promote goodwill, do it enough times and people start to inwardly cringe when they see you coming. They know they're going to take a beating or waste precious moments of their day dealing with a flea marketeer.
I like being liked by my peers.
If there is something I really love and gotta have and I just don't have the funding, I'll put it on layaway. I'll usually pay it off in a few days and everyone is happy. And then the next time I come by, if there is wiggle room I'm told "hey if you like that, I can do X on it" That's nice, that's how it works for me.
I shop at stores that are in my price range and I pay what I can afford.
I don't tell dealers long involved reasons why I can't meet their price, if it's out of my range I try to say something along the lines of, "wow that's a really great piece" Period. This is my way of saying "I wish I could buy it"(sometimes this could also mean "you're nuts" but the inflection stays the same). My sellers don't mark up in order to come down, because they know if they start high, I'll simply tell them what a great piece it is. I pay fair prices when buying and my sellers always come to me first.
I'd really like to throttle whomever started the rumor that "best price" is the open sesame to a secret treasure trove of bargains, the Aladin's Cave password of discounting. If I wanted to own a dollar store, I'd open one.
"Best Price" Usually goes something like this:
She or he walks in, bee lines for item and then catches themselves mid bee line and swerves off in another direction. They avoid looking directly at the item or immediately begin to disparage it. It's like a set routine with little variation. I prefer the avoidance shopper in the first stages, it delays me having to play for a few more minutes.
The disparager is easy for me, I can answer with a variety of answers Bored: "Yes I noticed that, we look at everything before pricing an item" Snarky: "Yes it's too bad, were it not for that micron of paint flaking at the base, it'd be worth millions" Direct: "Oh the drawer pull is loose? Just a sec I'll grab my screwdriver" if someone is being particularly awful or over the top, I'll simply walk away and chat with someone more pleasant.
The avoidance shopper becomes a pain when they finally get around to "noticing" the item, they glance once or twice, they harumph, they need to loudly discuss with a friend how it's too big, too small, too short, too tall, whatever 'defect' that is integral to the item and can't be changed for all the tea in China. Either way, they aren't really interested in buying, they are playing at shopping. Just honing the skills, I never take them seriously.
They don't know that I already realize, a price difference will not change the integral 'defect'. Usually "oh, the 8' sofa won't fit your 5 x 5 living room? That's too bad." is the best I can manage. Seriously. Discounts do not change the laws of physics.
No amount of money off is going to change a dimension or a color, and so while it's a decent ploy, it only makes sense to someone who hasn't heard it a million times before.
Probably the worst offender of whats-yer-best-price-on-that (said in a rapid fire all one word snappy pseudo-worldly sort of way) are the ones who don't look at the item. They didn't really look at the item, they didn't open a drawer, read the tag, look under the table, plug it in, check the dimensions, they aren't really looking to buy either. But they really really want to look like they are. Which I don't get, because once you've established yourself as a best pricer, you don't really move out of the classification of 'faux customer'.
Faux customers have never actually bought anything, they want a lot of info, they want to know how to fix things, they want advice. They like to regale me with tales of their garage sale and thrift store finds, they love to put things on hold, they have 'almost bought' everything in the store, they want me to wholesale to them the hard to find items that they can 'fix up' on their own. Luckily I can only think of two 'faux customers' off the top of my head. When they show up I'm usually 'just on my way out'.
My personal pet peev is when it's my day off and my shop employee calls me at home because someone needs a 'best price'. (*Note to Self, discuss with Lacee tomorrow how she too can be a ninja at deflecting the best pricers)
RULE OF THUMB: Unless the item is in ROUGH shape, has sat for a year, or something else unusual, the words Best Price, Wiggle Room, Any Room, etc will get you 10% off.
RULE OF THUMB #2: Never ask for Best Price unless you have already calculated 10% off in your head and you have every intention of buying it if it's 10% off.
RULE Of THUMB #3 See Rule #2
RULE of Thumb #4 If you get something at a discount above 10%, this is an Exception and not the Rule. If in doubt, see Rules #2 and 3
Always say Thank You.
A word about Dealer Discounts and To the Trade discounts
We don't have a secret dealer handshake that opens our warehouses to each other at 50% off.
See the beginning of this post and re read the 1st paragraph.
DO NOT CLAIM TO BE A DEALER IF YOU AREN'T.
You will be asked to provide PAPERWORK that shows you actually work in the resale business. You will be asked for your card. You will be asked for your tax id number. You will be asked to fill out forms.
DO NOT ASK FOR A TRADE DISCOUNT IF YOU ARE NOT IN THE TRADE! This is to avoid a great deal of embarrassment for both you and the dealer.
Do not borrow a friend's resale cert. Even with a friend's resale info, most dealers will not accept a resale cert from Tinky Winky Software if you claim to be 'in the biz'. Yes, someone actually tried to give me her husbands resale cert and info and tried to fake her way through the paperwork. She was being a giant-pain-in-the-butt-super-annoying-best-pricer anyways and so I called her on it. "Your antique store is called Don's Software!!? That is sooo weird! You know that's like, totally illegal to use someone else's info, right?"
...Well, um, I do shows and um, I use his accountant, and so I don't really have a store name...
"Wow, you know you guys could be in big trouble if I actually submitted this form with my taxes.. wouldn't you rather pay the taxes now and take them back out when you submit your sales taxes after the show?"
So I had a little bit of fun with it, sue me.
Hate to break it to you, but there is NO magical dealer discount card.
Volume discount is about the same question as Best Price, and only a little less annoying. It goes like this, "How much is this chair?" "What about this dresser?" What about if I took both?
"What about this lamp?" "What kind of discount can I get if I bought all three"
The hope is that somewhere the discount will jump past 10% at which point the customer will decide after much hemming and hawing that they'll just take the one item at the discount for all 3 pieces.
Seriously, some customers are just customers and are perfectly lovely.
Some people are like carnies, always working a con.
Beware carnies, pickpockets, and best pricers!
Dealer/Industry discount is 10%. Think about that for a second or two. Between friends and Peers, fellow business owners in the trade get 10% off. The lady who I do a lot of business with, 100s of dollars at a throw, will give me 10% off. The lady whom I adore as a person and drop in and chat with regularly , from whom I have been buying from for YEARS, will give me a whole 10% off. Think about this before reading any further.
"Best price" is a loaded question, my best price and the customers best price are two very different things. My best price is: Sell one a week and that covers all my operating costs, and that's just stupid and unrealistic. The customer's imagined 'best price' usually falls somewhere between 50% and 75% off the tag price, and that's just stupid too.
There is a good deal of work in simply pricing an item, condition, rarity, size, "mintyness", color, geographic location, all angles are considered when pricing an item. What might sell in Houston for a grand will wither and die in Austin at a penny above 600.
We don't just open "The Book" and flip to page 224 and say 'yep right. Here it is.. Heywake Rio Vanity, Champagne, Original Mirror, 1/2" Chip top right rear, piece of grey lint in bottom left drawer, found within 5 miles of store, no work required, pulled left deltoid loading it out of truck, paid X = "$450. list price"' (Stop laughing, Ronn)
What really is best price? And when should you ask for it? Realistically.
'Best price', 'volume discount' and 'cash price' are all terms that shouldn't be used in a retail location. It's tacky, and it means you shop for a bargain first and something that speaks to you second. You are a garage saler and you love to 'get one over' on people. I really despise that.
Nothing makes me want to retch faster than the guy who found a Nelson clock at a garage sale marked 30. but couldn't help putting the screws to the old girl to get it for 20., it doesn't make you cool or savy. It makes you an ass. If you find a good deal, buy it and thank the universe later, don't make it a triumph of your 'mad bargaining skillz'.
Best Price and Cash Price are really terms used for Flea Markets, Garage Sales, Craigslist, and low level "Antique and Kountry Kraft" shows.
Cash price might do something for you if you are talking to someone who needs gas money to haul their stuff home, or pocket money to grab a few beers after the show. But realistically, you paying cash today or me getting paid by the credit card company 3 days later doesn't make a big difference to me.
No Tax. This is lame, if you don't pay the tax, I pay the tax and I don't want to pay your tax for you. If you can't afford the tax I'm not sure if I want to do business with you on a regular basis. I do enough business that I can pay an honest accountant to keep my books legally above the board, she'll make me pay the tax even if I don't want to because it's my butt in a sling if I get caught, and I pay her to keep my butt right where it is. Playing pattycake with the IRS is not worth the sale. 'No tax' means no dice for you.
Discounting is something you do for a good steady regular customer on occasion, it's not something you want to do all the time and the people that want to start their relationship with you as a discount customer are not going to be your best customer.
Which brings us back to best price. To begin with "Best Price" is your "worst choice" of words.
Do NOT ask Best Price when someone tells you "it just came in", just came in is a signal that the item is new to my store, it's fresh to the market and you have no bargaining power.
On the other hand, if you've been looking at it for weeks, so have I, and you could ask about 'wiggle room'. I personally like the words wiggle room, wiggle does not imply a 10,000 league boot of deep discounting. It means a little to one side. It's sort of sweet, like a puppy. Puppies are cute, I like dogs, and wiggle room means that you understand how it really works.
No one is out to make a financial killing in the vintage market, we do it because we like it and if we make a small living along the way, well hip hop hooray for us.
'Best price' grates on my last nerve, it suggests that you are a hard bitten haggler. I don't like haggling. Other dealers love to see me coming because I almost never want to play lets make a deal with them. I can make up my own mind all by myself if it's a good price and if it's within my budget. If it's in my budget asking for an additional discount doesn't promote goodwill, do it enough times and people start to inwardly cringe when they see you coming. They know they're going to take a beating or waste precious moments of their day dealing with a flea marketeer.
I like being liked by my peers.
If there is something I really love and gotta have and I just don't have the funding, I'll put it on layaway. I'll usually pay it off in a few days and everyone is happy. And then the next time I come by, if there is wiggle room I'm told "hey if you like that, I can do X on it" That's nice, that's how it works for me.
I shop at stores that are in my price range and I pay what I can afford.
I don't tell dealers long involved reasons why I can't meet their price, if it's out of my range I try to say something along the lines of, "wow that's a really great piece" Period. This is my way of saying "I wish I could buy it"(sometimes this could also mean "you're nuts" but the inflection stays the same). My sellers don't mark up in order to come down, because they know if they start high, I'll simply tell them what a great piece it is. I pay fair prices when buying and my sellers always come to me first.
I'd really like to throttle whomever started the rumor that "best price" is the open sesame to a secret treasure trove of bargains, the Aladin's Cave password of discounting. If I wanted to own a dollar store, I'd open one.
"Best Price" Usually goes something like this:
She or he walks in, bee lines for item and then catches themselves mid bee line and swerves off in another direction. They avoid looking directly at the item or immediately begin to disparage it. It's like a set routine with little variation. I prefer the avoidance shopper in the first stages, it delays me having to play for a few more minutes.
The disparager is easy for me, I can answer with a variety of answers Bored: "Yes I noticed that, we look at everything before pricing an item" Snarky: "Yes it's too bad, were it not for that micron of paint flaking at the base, it'd be worth millions" Direct: "Oh the drawer pull is loose? Just a sec I'll grab my screwdriver" if someone is being particularly awful or over the top, I'll simply walk away and chat with someone more pleasant.
The avoidance shopper becomes a pain when they finally get around to "noticing" the item, they glance once or twice, they harumph, they need to loudly discuss with a friend how it's too big, too small, too short, too tall, whatever 'defect' that is integral to the item and can't be changed for all the tea in China. Either way, they aren't really interested in buying, they are playing at shopping. Just honing the skills, I never take them seriously.
They don't know that I already realize, a price difference will not change the integral 'defect'. Usually "oh, the 8' sofa won't fit your 5 x 5 living room? That's too bad." is the best I can manage. Seriously. Discounts do not change the laws of physics.
No amount of money off is going to change a dimension or a color, and so while it's a decent ploy, it only makes sense to someone who hasn't heard it a million times before.
Probably the worst offender of whats-yer-best-price-on-that (said in a rapid fire all one word snappy pseudo-worldly sort of way) are the ones who don't look at the item. They didn't really look at the item, they didn't open a drawer, read the tag, look under the table, plug it in, check the dimensions, they aren't really looking to buy either. But they really really want to look like they are. Which I don't get, because once you've established yourself as a best pricer, you don't really move out of the classification of 'faux customer'.
Faux customers have never actually bought anything, they want a lot of info, they want to know how to fix things, they want advice. They like to regale me with tales of their garage sale and thrift store finds, they love to put things on hold, they have 'almost bought' everything in the store, they want me to wholesale to them the hard to find items that they can 'fix up' on their own. Luckily I can only think of two 'faux customers' off the top of my head. When they show up I'm usually 'just on my way out'.
My personal pet peev is when it's my day off and my shop employee calls me at home because someone needs a 'best price'. (*Note to Self, discuss with Lacee tomorrow how she too can be a ninja at deflecting the best pricers)
RULE OF THUMB: Unless the item is in ROUGH shape, has sat for a year, or something else unusual, the words Best Price, Wiggle Room, Any Room, etc will get you 10% off.
RULE OF THUMB #2: Never ask for Best Price unless you have already calculated 10% off in your head and you have every intention of buying it if it's 10% off.
RULE Of THUMB #3 See Rule #2
RULE of Thumb #4 If you get something at a discount above 10%, this is an Exception and not the Rule. If in doubt, see Rules #2 and 3
Always say Thank You.
A word about Dealer Discounts and To the Trade discounts
We don't have a secret dealer handshake that opens our warehouses to each other at 50% off.
See the beginning of this post and re read the 1st paragraph.
DO NOT CLAIM TO BE A DEALER IF YOU AREN'T.
You will be asked to provide PAPERWORK that shows you actually work in the resale business. You will be asked for your card. You will be asked for your tax id number. You will be asked to fill out forms.
DO NOT ASK FOR A TRADE DISCOUNT IF YOU ARE NOT IN THE TRADE! This is to avoid a great deal of embarrassment for both you and the dealer.
Do not borrow a friend's resale cert. Even with a friend's resale info, most dealers will not accept a resale cert from Tinky Winky Software if you claim to be 'in the biz'. Yes, someone actually tried to give me her husbands resale cert and info and tried to fake her way through the paperwork. She was being a giant-pain-in-the-butt-super-annoying-best-pricer anyways and so I called her on it. "Your antique store is called Don's Software!!? That is sooo weird! You know that's like, totally illegal to use someone else's info, right?"
...Well, um, I do shows and um, I use his accountant, and so I don't really have a store name...
"Wow, you know you guys could be in big trouble if I actually submitted this form with my taxes.. wouldn't you rather pay the taxes now and take them back out when you submit your sales taxes after the show?"
So I had a little bit of fun with it, sue me.
Hate to break it to you, but there is NO magical dealer discount card.
Volume discount is about the same question as Best Price, and only a little less annoying. It goes like this, "How much is this chair?" "What about this dresser?" What about if I took both?
"What about this lamp?" "What kind of discount can I get if I bought all three"
The hope is that somewhere the discount will jump past 10% at which point the customer will decide after much hemming and hawing that they'll just take the one item at the discount for all 3 pieces.
Seriously, some customers are just customers and are perfectly lovely.
Some people are like carnies, always working a con.
Beware carnies, pickpockets, and best pricers!
Friday, January 18, 2008
Merrily we roll along
Double post today because it's cold, it's sleety and no one is out and about today leaving me bored and cold, and yet strangely un motivated to redo the front window.
Which is really what I ought to be doing.
So I was flipping through Ronn's blog at Futures Antiques and thinking about some of the funny, weird, odd and enlightening things that have happened at the store over the years. I have a FAQ on our website that outlines the to dos and not to dos of maintaining a working relationship with a dealer who has the goods that you just love. A lot of it is simple two way street respect, easy stuff, but still worth a read through.
Ronn posts 'stupid customer stories'. So I'll tell the tale of "Dumbass-the Super Special Architect" He's been BANNED from the store and that takes a lot of work:
So three years ago during the summer renovations, D-SSA walks in. "Sorry we're closed for renovations" He smiles and says "I just really really want that chair, can I buy it?"
Seems like a simple enough request and the register and cc machine were still hooked up so yeah. "How much is it?" 110.00
A cute little 60s Selig, low to the ground seagull style lounge chair. I told him it needed a back cushion hence the low price for a groovy lounge chair. "oh, well-whats-your best price?"
Best price is an annoying question for a variety of reasons but asking best price on a piece of furniture priced way below fair(or on sale) is just rude. Asking someone to stop what they are doing and open their store especially for you just to haggle is also rude.
I just want him to make a decision so I can get back to dropping tile in the back room and I'm not going to get around to the back cushion anytime soon, plus he claims to be 'in the trade'... more on that later. So fine, 10% off and it's yours.
"I don't pay tax" great, fill this out I say, handing him a resale form. "Oh well I don't actually have a tax thing, can't you just back the tax out?" No. Now I'm annoyed. "I can show you how" Are you kidding me? "Well can you use someone elses tax id, I'm sure you have some on file"
OK, he has now crossed the line into scumbag territory and I want him o-u-t.
You don't do that. You don't ask for a store owner to pay your tax for you, people who don't charge tax do it because they aren't paying tax or have pre rolled the tax into their pricing which doesn't allow for discounting.
And pretending to work for a tax exempt or resale firm is the quickest way to the top of the blacklist. And yet this isn't what put this guy on the blacklist. It just put him under the heading of jackass.
After wanting a to the trade discount and being a yutz about paying tax, he was still has 'customer status'.
3 MONTHS later (we were closed for two weeks so three months was quite a stretch) he comes in and tells me that his 99. chair is "broken" and he needs store credit. I think he may have actually thought I'd take his word for it and just credit it without any need to involve the chair in question.
Like most vintage and antique stores we do not accept returns and we don't do exchanges. There are rare circumstances where this is perfectly rational and it does happen, however 3 months is quite a bit beyond the time frame for this happening.
After explaining this, he looks at the sign behind the counter outlining this policy and says the sign wasn't there when he bought the chair. This is true, the counter AND the sign were BOTH on the other side of the store at the time.
Like a dumbass I offer to take a look at it for him on the off possibility that something is loose and the laws of physics stopped applying. The chair sits about 8 inches off the ground on a tulip pedestal the same diameter as the seat and he's claiming it tips over every time he sits in it. Tipping this chair over is a physical impossibility. So I already knew he was full of it.
So he rolls up a few days later with the chair, he has not replaced the back pillow. Without a back pillow the chair was not comfortable and was priced accordingly. With a back pillow the chair was selling for 275. in Austin.
I show him that it does not tip, I show him that it is not possible for it to tip. I remind him that the back pillow is missing. I check the screws on the base. I know he is, in a word, a liar.
He wants a refund. He's like an annoying broken record. This is first thing in the morning and I haven't had my coffee yet.
Had he shown up and said 'hey I bought this and it's really cool but I'm not going to get around to getting the back pad made, would you be willing to purchase it back?' It might have gotten him pretty far. But no, he wanted to be a jerk. He had to accuse me of selling him a dangerous tipping chair. He 'knows people in the industry and word gets around' (what are you, the godfather of Austin architects?) Then he had to pull out the integrity card, telling me I had none.
Really bad idea. There are a lot of dealers with integrity, will tell you if something is a good buy or not, will go out of their way to point out scuffs and dings, and will not stoop to selling shoddy merch as quality, and I'm one of em. There are a hell of a lot more with none, so adding me in with that lot was the last straw. The integrity card was the very last one he should have played.
Ska-rew you, I thought as walked back into the store and pulled the cash drawer, "Here's your refund, give me the chair and leave. "well, I really like this other thing...." "Buddy, you have got to be kidding me. Do us both a favor and don't come back."
I have to stress that it was not because he needed to return an item. It was his general skeeviness. The combination of "I work in the industry, I get a discount, I don't pay tax, put it on someone else's account, this item is broken, you lied to me, I know people in the business"
Seriously, just gross.
And in 5 years he is the only person I've actually officially banned from the store. Getting blacklisted from a store is hard work. You can be a butthead all day, everyday and still not make the list.
You can be 'that annoying guy who has to tap everything with his keys' 'the lady with the 4 ADD kids' 'the weird guy who stares a lot' 'the barefoot creep' 'the annoying haggler' any combination, but it really takes a colossal amount of effort and energy to get officially blacklisted.
Dealers share stories all the time, we chat about how nice or sweet or charming some of our favorite customers are and we also share 'freakfest stories, getting blacklisted at one store can make dealers all over town know you as 'that guy who got bounced from so and so's store' this is nothing to be proud of.
Which is really what I ought to be doing.
So I was flipping through Ronn's blog at Futures Antiques and thinking about some of the funny, weird, odd and enlightening things that have happened at the store over the years. I have a FAQ on our website that outlines the to dos and not to dos of maintaining a working relationship with a dealer who has the goods that you just love. A lot of it is simple two way street respect, easy stuff, but still worth a read through.
Ronn posts 'stupid customer stories'. So I'll tell the tale of "Dumbass-the Super Special Architect" He's been BANNED from the store and that takes a lot of work:
So three years ago during the summer renovations, D-SSA walks in. "Sorry we're closed for renovations" He smiles and says "I just really really want that chair, can I buy it?"
Seems like a simple enough request and the register and cc machine were still hooked up so yeah. "How much is it?" 110.00
A cute little 60s Selig, low to the ground seagull style lounge chair. I told him it needed a back cushion hence the low price for a groovy lounge chair. "oh, well-whats-your best price?"
Best price is an annoying question for a variety of reasons but asking best price on a piece of furniture priced way below fair(or on sale) is just rude. Asking someone to stop what they are doing and open their store especially for you just to haggle is also rude.
I just want him to make a decision so I can get back to dropping tile in the back room and I'm not going to get around to the back cushion anytime soon, plus he claims to be 'in the trade'... more on that later. So fine, 10% off and it's yours.
"I don't pay tax" great, fill this out I say, handing him a resale form. "Oh well I don't actually have a tax thing, can't you just back the tax out?" No. Now I'm annoyed. "I can show you how" Are you kidding me? "Well can you use someone elses tax id, I'm sure you have some on file"
OK, he has now crossed the line into scumbag territory and I want him o-u-t.
You don't do that. You don't ask for a store owner to pay your tax for you, people who don't charge tax do it because they aren't paying tax or have pre rolled the tax into their pricing which doesn't allow for discounting.
And pretending to work for a tax exempt or resale firm is the quickest way to the top of the blacklist. And yet this isn't what put this guy on the blacklist. It just put him under the heading of jackass.
After wanting a to the trade discount and being a yutz about paying tax, he was still has 'customer status'.
3 MONTHS later (we were closed for two weeks so three months was quite a stretch) he comes in and tells me that his 99. chair is "broken" and he needs store credit. I think he may have actually thought I'd take his word for it and just credit it without any need to involve the chair in question.
Like most vintage and antique stores we do not accept returns and we don't do exchanges. There are rare circumstances where this is perfectly rational and it does happen, however 3 months is quite a bit beyond the time frame for this happening.
After explaining this, he looks at the sign behind the counter outlining this policy and says the sign wasn't there when he bought the chair. This is true, the counter AND the sign were BOTH on the other side of the store at the time.
Like a dumbass I offer to take a look at it for him on the off possibility that something is loose and the laws of physics stopped applying. The chair sits about 8 inches off the ground on a tulip pedestal the same diameter as the seat and he's claiming it tips over every time he sits in it. Tipping this chair over is a physical impossibility. So I already knew he was full of it.
So he rolls up a few days later with the chair, he has not replaced the back pillow. Without a back pillow the chair was not comfortable and was priced accordingly. With a back pillow the chair was selling for 275. in Austin.
I show him that it does not tip, I show him that it is not possible for it to tip. I remind him that the back pillow is missing. I check the screws on the base. I know he is, in a word, a liar.
He wants a refund. He's like an annoying broken record. This is first thing in the morning and I haven't had my coffee yet.
Had he shown up and said 'hey I bought this and it's really cool but I'm not going to get around to getting the back pad made, would you be willing to purchase it back?' It might have gotten him pretty far. But no, he wanted to be a jerk. He had to accuse me of selling him a dangerous tipping chair. He 'knows people in the industry and word gets around' (what are you, the godfather of Austin architects?) Then he had to pull out the integrity card, telling me I had none.
Really bad idea. There are a lot of dealers with integrity, will tell you if something is a good buy or not, will go out of their way to point out scuffs and dings, and will not stoop to selling shoddy merch as quality, and I'm one of em. There are a hell of a lot more with none, so adding me in with that lot was the last straw. The integrity card was the very last one he should have played.
Ska-rew you, I thought as walked back into the store and pulled the cash drawer, "Here's your refund, give me the chair and leave. "well, I really like this other thing...." "Buddy, you have got to be kidding me. Do us both a favor and don't come back."
I have to stress that it was not because he needed to return an item. It was his general skeeviness. The combination of "I work in the industry, I get a discount, I don't pay tax, put it on someone else's account, this item is broken, you lied to me, I know people in the business"
Seriously, just gross.
And in 5 years he is the only person I've actually officially banned from the store. Getting blacklisted from a store is hard work. You can be a butthead all day, everyday and still not make the list.
You can be 'that annoying guy who has to tap everything with his keys' 'the lady with the 4 ADD kids' 'the weird guy who stares a lot' 'the barefoot creep' 'the annoying haggler' any combination, but it really takes a colossal amount of effort and energy to get officially blacklisted.
Dealers share stories all the time, we chat about how nice or sweet or charming some of our favorite customers are and we also share 'freakfest stories, getting blacklisted at one store can make dealers all over town know you as 'that guy who got bounced from so and so's store' this is nothing to be proud of.
nuts to this!
As predicted it's really really cooooollllllld in the shop today.
Got a rad 60s black vinyl sofa (8' knoll lines but made by selig) in this morning, and I think we'll be able to bring in one of the lacquer dressers tomorrow. Flurry of activity this morning, answering emails looking for ship quotes and chatting with old and new customers.
Looks like the economy is going in the direction we all feared. 2012 is coming!
There's a new shop that opened recently and while I don't agree with some of their business tactics, I still feel a twinge of sadness for them. This is not the time to open a new untested business. Personally, being intimately familiar with what it takes to really get a business going and keeping it going, I never like to hear that someone is floundering.
We're doing ok and I think with careful steps everyone can make it through till the elections. New presidents give people hope. Today's economic stimulus announcement fell a little flat I think. I know 500 to 800 per person adds up to a colossal amount, but it's not much more than a small band-aid on a gaping wound. To put it in perspective, 500.oo is a half months rent for apartment dwellers in most mid size cities, and a 1/4 mortgage payment for most. It's great, but really, 500. just isn't what it was 20 years ago.
500. does not start a business, keep people from losing their houses or jobs or buy a months groceries for a family of 4, I'm just seeing that whole 'give a man a fish, teach him to fish' saying at work here.
I have no intention of running for President and I'm sure I'd make a really bad one, opinions are like elbows and all that. However, in a magical land of make believe what I'd like to see is this:
Major incentives for companies to begin manufacturing in America again, and end to tax incentives to keep production operations overseas. There is a lot of having it both ways at work over the last decade.
The whole overseas operations has become an ancient whipping boy by now, but it really has nailed us to the wall. Dollar Stores are a way of life for most and without the people crying out for bread, there is no real incentive to make a drastic change. Though something needs to be done. The cheaper products can be sold for, the lower the quality is and a vicious spiral begins.
US produced goods have been replaced by cheaper foreign goods for decades but now it seems to be at the point where almost nothing is really produced in the US outside of cottage industries in niche markets. The cheaper goods have to be replaced more frequently but at a lower price than buying one quality item that will last for years. Instead of saving for that one Dunbar couch that will last more than a lifetime, people are buying 199. faux sofas at Target and other inexpensive retailers and though the sofa has fallen apart within 6 months, 199. every six months for a decade* seems cheaper than 3 grand in one go. *from ages 20 - 30 people spend a terrific amount of money on crap quality housewares and furnishings*
The plethora of cheap and lack of quality has also helped to make it difficult for a whole generation of people to tell the difference between the two without using the price tag as a guideline. Just because it's pricey doesn't mean it's worth it.
People don't notice their dollar doesn't go as far because the quality items have been replaced by cheaper goods. Once the quality becomes an issue, it's often too late to find a better alternative.
The dog food produced in China is a good example. The tainted filler was in 90% of the dog foods available. The only alternative was make your own or buy organic American dog food at 4 times the price. A lot of dog owners were put in a terrible position to chose between feeding their dogs something that wouldn't kill them or buying groceries for themselves. True, I am talking and focusing on the lower end of the economic ladder, but nothing is worse than getting your legs knocked out from under you and the base of the economic pyramid is a heck of a lot wider than it used to be.
It might be naive but it seems to me that if we had continued to produce within the US we'd be a little more financially stable than we are now. And yes I'm one of the 'this is a war for oil' believers. I also subscribe to the theory that the best way to win a game is not to play. Hey I'm an 80s kid, War Games was powerful stuff for a 12 year old.
Seems that researching and developing cars that ran on ethanol or fuel alternatives would have been a better use of time and young lives than a war. Would have boosted the economy and possibly (maybe) could have produced an American car that wasn't in the shop on a consistent basis. Lots of bright stars have been snuffed out on all sides of the fence during this war...
Making peace seems to be a heck of a lot cheaper than making war but then peace isn't very profitable..
Oooh we're getting dark..
The cold weather has me on a philosophical rant.
Got a rad 60s black vinyl sofa (8' knoll lines but made by selig) in this morning, and I think we'll be able to bring in one of the lacquer dressers tomorrow. Flurry of activity this morning, answering emails looking for ship quotes and chatting with old and new customers.
Looks like the economy is going in the direction we all feared. 2012 is coming!
There's a new shop that opened recently and while I don't agree with some of their business tactics, I still feel a twinge of sadness for them. This is not the time to open a new untested business. Personally, being intimately familiar with what it takes to really get a business going and keeping it going, I never like to hear that someone is floundering.
We're doing ok and I think with careful steps everyone can make it through till the elections. New presidents give people hope. Today's economic stimulus announcement fell a little flat I think. I know 500 to 800 per person adds up to a colossal amount, but it's not much more than a small band-aid on a gaping wound. To put it in perspective, 500.oo is a half months rent for apartment dwellers in most mid size cities, and a 1/4 mortgage payment for most. It's great, but really, 500. just isn't what it was 20 years ago.
500. does not start a business, keep people from losing their houses or jobs or buy a months groceries for a family of 4, I'm just seeing that whole 'give a man a fish, teach him to fish' saying at work here.
I have no intention of running for President and I'm sure I'd make a really bad one, opinions are like elbows and all that. However, in a magical land of make believe what I'd like to see is this:
Major incentives for companies to begin manufacturing in America again, and end to tax incentives to keep production operations overseas. There is a lot of having it both ways at work over the last decade.
The whole overseas operations has become an ancient whipping boy by now, but it really has nailed us to the wall. Dollar Stores are a way of life for most and without the people crying out for bread, there is no real incentive to make a drastic change. Though something needs to be done. The cheaper products can be sold for, the lower the quality is and a vicious spiral begins.
US produced goods have been replaced by cheaper foreign goods for decades but now it seems to be at the point where almost nothing is really produced in the US outside of cottage industries in niche markets. The cheaper goods have to be replaced more frequently but at a lower price than buying one quality item that will last for years. Instead of saving for that one Dunbar couch that will last more than a lifetime, people are buying 199. faux sofas at Target and other inexpensive retailers and though the sofa has fallen apart within 6 months, 199. every six months for a decade* seems cheaper than 3 grand in one go. *from ages 20 - 30 people spend a terrific amount of money on crap quality housewares and furnishings*
The plethora of cheap and lack of quality has also helped to make it difficult for a whole generation of people to tell the difference between the two without using the price tag as a guideline. Just because it's pricey doesn't mean it's worth it.
People don't notice their dollar doesn't go as far because the quality items have been replaced by cheaper goods. Once the quality becomes an issue, it's often too late to find a better alternative.
The dog food produced in China is a good example. The tainted filler was in 90% of the dog foods available. The only alternative was make your own or buy organic American dog food at 4 times the price. A lot of dog owners were put in a terrible position to chose between feeding their dogs something that wouldn't kill them or buying groceries for themselves. True, I am talking and focusing on the lower end of the economic ladder, but nothing is worse than getting your legs knocked out from under you and the base of the economic pyramid is a heck of a lot wider than it used to be.
It might be naive but it seems to me that if we had continued to produce within the US we'd be a little more financially stable than we are now. And yes I'm one of the 'this is a war for oil' believers. I also subscribe to the theory that the best way to win a game is not to play. Hey I'm an 80s kid, War Games was powerful stuff for a 12 year old.
Seems that researching and developing cars that ran on ethanol or fuel alternatives would have been a better use of time and young lives than a war. Would have boosted the economy and possibly (maybe) could have produced an American car that wasn't in the shop on a consistent basis. Lots of bright stars have been snuffed out on all sides of the fence during this war...
Making peace seems to be a heck of a lot cheaper than making war but then peace isn't very profitable..
Oooh we're getting dark..
The cold weather has me on a philosophical rant.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
I spy something cold, green and yellow
We use radiant heating at the store, well sort of. Our front windows are large plate glass and face south east so in the winter on a sunny day the store heats up nicely without the need to run the heater. However on days like tomorrow, a high of 40 and overcast.. well, lets just say it'll be a little chilly at the store tomorrow. Why? Because I've been dragging my feet on getting the gas turned on this year.
We don't have a hot water heater and so even though we use absolutely NO gas 350 days out of the year, Texas Gas still charges us 30.00 a month for misc service charges. Lame, right? 300 a year for something that isn't being used....
Why? Because we're a business. We pay double for trash removal because we're a business. I've asked if we could have a residential garbage can because we rarely fill our current one, the city thinks this is the dumbest request ever. This would be a stupid request on my part if we weren't located in a residential part of town and if half the other businesses in said part of town were not operating under residential accounts.
My friend Carolyn just gave me a ginormous vintage flat file! I love dual duty objects, we can store all of our prints, vintage posters and unframed water colors in the files and use the top for display! Totally bitchen!
We re-use and double purpose a lot at the store, if we paint anything we wash and save the brushes instead of tossing them, we use cotton towels instead of paper towels, sort of simple logic. Our planters are recycled irrigation culverts, the cactus and agave out front are xeriscapes. We also try to operate in as green a manner as possible. Compact florescent bulbs for everything, organic cleaning products, recycled eco-friendly plastic bags (though we don't go so far as to use leftover grocery bags, that is so GROSS!), the whole shebang.
1stdibs new tagline is "Do yourself and the planet a favor, buy vintage and antique furnishings"
which is totally brilliant. My second favorite tagline is Howl's "Decorate like you give a damn".
We sometimes forget that the whole point in collecting is because it's unique and looks great compared to cookie cutter garbage destined for the landfill in 6 months. It's about the quality of design.
So while some (not all) vintage dealers bag on designers, designers play a vital role in determining the collecting market. Though, I have to admit there is the whole chicken egg thing. There is a definite shift towards looking at vintage and antiques not solely from a collecting standpoint, but from the viewpoint of saving the planet (in a small way).
*Vintage and antique items are usually made of higher quality materials than the newer particleboard/mdf nightmare creations made today. Higher quality = longer lifespan, Longer lifespan = less landfill filler.
Worked on re-lacquering a pair of campaign chests today. A gorgeous "Banana Yellow", the original yellow lacquer was having issues and few things are sadder than a chipped to hell campaign chest.... Maybe a silver spray painted ANYTHING.. If you must silver something at least silverleaf it, it's not hard.
So I left the house for an appointment and was checking my lipstick in the mirror at a light....
(I had been lacquering without a mask on & I'm sure Ronn can guess where this is going...) BRIGHT primer white nose hair.
Aw crap.
It happens. Everyone has nose hair and for the most part, outside of a few comical old men, most people have nose hair that you never notice. Now imagine that each and every one of your nose hairs has been individually lacquered bright electric white. And you're on your way to an appointment. With a client. And it looks like you've just packed both nostrils with Marie Antoinette's wig collection.
Jeez.
Went and saw Charlie Wilson's War last night, loved the sets! This is a sickness that some people have, they don't watch the movie, they look at the sets. Whoever did the decorating for Firefly and Serenity has got a serious thing for danish mod. Rya rugs and Harp chairs galore.
So there were several set decor items in Charlie Wilson's War that we either currently have or have had in the past. No they did not film it here, and no, nothing that was used in that movie came from our store. I did notice that though CWW was mostly set in the 80s, the majority of the set props were 60s and 70s pieces.
Though our store has been raided for set decor for a large number of tv shows, commercials and movies filmed in Austin, I haven't actually seen any of those tv shows or movies! We don't get out much.
When they film movies in Austin, depending on the budget, the crew of set decorators can literally siphon every piece of 70s 60s 50s etc items off the market for the duration of the shoot. At the end of the shoot they sell off some or all of the props. It's really funny because I almost never buy back items that I've already sold.
Usually because props get a LOT of hard use, pieces are not pampered and cared for. Props can be any or all of the following: spray painted, twisted, nailed, oiled, sanded, rained on, set on fire, banged around, dissassembled, reassembled, made to wobble, made to fall over, made to spark, burned, exploded (yes), beat on and generally worked over.
Which is why we don't like to rent items out. We have and will, but only to one particular set/prop designer because she does go out of her way to make sure that these things don't happen to our rentals.
If I had to do something other than the store I'd like to work with Fab-G sourcing props, or I'd like to work for "that warehouse in ny/la".
"warehouse in ny/la" to be explained in the next post.
We don't have a hot water heater and so even though we use absolutely NO gas 350 days out of the year, Texas Gas still charges us 30.00 a month for misc service charges. Lame, right? 300 a year for something that isn't being used....
Why? Because we're a business. We pay double for trash removal because we're a business. I've asked if we could have a residential garbage can because we rarely fill our current one, the city thinks this is the dumbest request ever. This would be a stupid request on my part if we weren't located in a residential part of town and if half the other businesses in said part of town were not operating under residential accounts.
My friend Carolyn just gave me a ginormous vintage flat file! I love dual duty objects, we can store all of our prints, vintage posters and unframed water colors in the files and use the top for display! Totally bitchen!
We re-use and double purpose a lot at the store, if we paint anything we wash and save the brushes instead of tossing them, we use cotton towels instead of paper towels, sort of simple logic. Our planters are recycled irrigation culverts, the cactus and agave out front are xeriscapes. We also try to operate in as green a manner as possible. Compact florescent bulbs for everything, organic cleaning products, recycled eco-friendly plastic bags (though we don't go so far as to use leftover grocery bags, that is so GROSS!), the whole shebang.
1stdibs new tagline is "Do yourself and the planet a favor, buy vintage and antique furnishings"
which is totally brilliant. My second favorite tagline is Howl's "Decorate like you give a damn".
We sometimes forget that the whole point in collecting is because it's unique and looks great compared to cookie cutter garbage destined for the landfill in 6 months. It's about the quality of design.
So while some (not all) vintage dealers bag on designers, designers play a vital role in determining the collecting market. Though, I have to admit there is the whole chicken egg thing. There is a definite shift towards looking at vintage and antiques not solely from a collecting standpoint, but from the viewpoint of saving the planet (in a small way).
*Vintage and antique items are usually made of higher quality materials than the newer particleboard/mdf nightmare creations made today. Higher quality = longer lifespan, Longer lifespan = less landfill filler.
Worked on re-lacquering a pair of campaign chests today. A gorgeous "Banana Yellow", the original yellow lacquer was having issues and few things are sadder than a chipped to hell campaign chest.... Maybe a silver spray painted ANYTHING.. If you must silver something at least silverleaf it, it's not hard.
So I left the house for an appointment and was checking my lipstick in the mirror at a light....
(I had been lacquering without a mask on & I'm sure Ronn can guess where this is going...) BRIGHT primer white nose hair.
Aw crap.
It happens. Everyone has nose hair and for the most part, outside of a few comical old men, most people have nose hair that you never notice. Now imagine that each and every one of your nose hairs has been individually lacquered bright electric white. And you're on your way to an appointment. With a client. And it looks like you've just packed both nostrils with Marie Antoinette's wig collection.
Jeez.
Went and saw Charlie Wilson's War last night, loved the sets! This is a sickness that some people have, they don't watch the movie, they look at the sets. Whoever did the decorating for Firefly and Serenity has got a serious thing for danish mod. Rya rugs and Harp chairs galore.
So there were several set decor items in Charlie Wilson's War that we either currently have or have had in the past. No they did not film it here, and no, nothing that was used in that movie came from our store. I did notice that though CWW was mostly set in the 80s, the majority of the set props were 60s and 70s pieces.
Though our store has been raided for set decor for a large number of tv shows, commercials and movies filmed in Austin, I haven't actually seen any of those tv shows or movies! We don't get out much.
When they film movies in Austin, depending on the budget, the crew of set decorators can literally siphon every piece of 70s 60s 50s etc items off the market for the duration of the shoot. At the end of the shoot they sell off some or all of the props. It's really funny because I almost never buy back items that I've already sold.
Usually because props get a LOT of hard use, pieces are not pampered and cared for. Props can be any or all of the following: spray painted, twisted, nailed, oiled, sanded, rained on, set on fire, banged around, dissassembled, reassembled, made to wobble, made to fall over, made to spark, burned, exploded (yes), beat on and generally worked over.
Which is why we don't like to rent items out. We have and will, but only to one particular set/prop designer because she does go out of her way to make sure that these things don't happen to our rentals.
If I had to do something other than the store I'd like to work with Fab-G sourcing props, or I'd like to work for "that warehouse in ny/la".
"warehouse in ny/la" to be explained in the next post.
Monday, January 14, 2008
the good the bad & the snarky
Today was a good day..
Great design goodies.. no I'm not saying where I found 'stuff'. Suffice to say I went through a tank of gas and much $.
The a-number 1-more-common-than-pennies question is: Where do you get all this stuff??
Everywhere, it is really and truly no lie that things come from everywhere. The important thing to remember is 90% of the real meat of the business is the search, the hauling, the storing and the caring/repairing of, the goods. All of which costs. I wish stuff just fell off trees but if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
I really do think it's an Austin thing for people to confuse vintage and thrift, the major issue is thrift stores get their stuff for free. FREE. And it's delivered to their back doors.
Vintage and antique stores (usually single owner/operated hence 'owner' and 'store' are interchangeable) have to spend years (or at least they should) learning about items, spending thousands of dollars on research materials, building relationships with sellers, attending auctions, we have to own large trucks or vans that guzzle gas by the second and rent warehouses to store things in... After that basic initial step, we have to drive, fly, and haul across country or continents items that we have sought out and paid for to bring them home and offer them for sale to the end user.
We provide the service of locating items that have been professionally looked over and inspected, damage will be noted, we don't sell junk, seriously flawed items, we don't consider something vintage or store worthy just because it's old.
The phrase "well edited selection" used to bug me but after winnowing out the chaff there is something to be said for pre-selected and inspected items.
My taste isn't going to be everyone's and mine changes every year, some of my customers love it and some feel that I'm not carrying enough of what they like. But you know, there are tons of stores in Austin that DO carry 50s toasters, teapots, shabby chic and original Nancy Drew books, it's just not at my store.
I don't like dark stores, and while I dig the 'ye olde curiousity shop' feel of a really dusty shop, I keep our store well lit and as clean as possible. I'm always happy to have someone come in and say Wow this place is: beautiful, gorgeous, so cool, so clean, so pretty, smells so nice, amazing.. I really love to hear it because I work hard to keep it that way. I spent weeks agonizing over paint colors, lost the tip of a finger putting in the big maple wall. The heart, soul and more has gone into the store and so it's wonderful to hear the compliments.
Of course the downside to all that heart and soul is some people get all the way up my nose within 30 seconds of walking in.
When someone you've never seen before walks in and says something really nasty just to be an ass, it can be a little off putting.
Usually I can shake it off, however twice (in 5 years) I've asked people to simply leave and not return. It's easier that way. For everyone.
I'll get around to telling those tales some other time.
Be warned, if you walk into a vintage or antique store, it's 90% likely you'll be talking to the owner. (and now for something completely different... it's like a segue)
One of our friends is a film maker and we joked about spoofing the movie Clerks at the store, while I think it would be hilarious and probably would be great for a laugh, it might be too close to the truth.
I'm more of the 'Black Books' persuasion anyways. Bitchy cranky chain smoking drunk Scottish guys crack me up. We're big BBC fans in the Austin Modern household. The dogs are named Spenser and Fergus, of course.... nevermind.
Spence, master beggar at work
Fergus AKA The Nuuuge
Speaking of.... How NOT to Decorate on BBC America is back on with new episodes. Nothing gives me the giggles faster than listening to two whip smart queens read someone's bad 80s home design. We've also been checking out Design Sponge online, one of our customers turned us on to it last year and we've been closet addicts ever since.
Great design goodies.. no I'm not saying where I found 'stuff'. Suffice to say I went through a tank of gas and much $.
The a-number 1-more-common-than-pennies question is: Where do you get all this stuff??
Everywhere, it is really and truly no lie that things come from everywhere. The important thing to remember is 90% of the real meat of the business is the search, the hauling, the storing and the caring/repairing of, the goods. All of which costs. I wish stuff just fell off trees but if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
I really do think it's an Austin thing for people to confuse vintage and thrift, the major issue is thrift stores get their stuff for free. FREE. And it's delivered to their back doors.
Vintage and antique stores (usually single owner/operated hence 'owner' and 'store' are interchangeable) have to spend years (or at least they should) learning about items, spending thousands of dollars on research materials, building relationships with sellers, attending auctions, we have to own large trucks or vans that guzzle gas by the second and rent warehouses to store things in... After that basic initial step, we have to drive, fly, and haul across country or continents items that we have sought out and paid for to bring them home and offer them for sale to the end user.
We provide the service of locating items that have been professionally looked over and inspected, damage will be noted, we don't sell junk, seriously flawed items, we don't consider something vintage or store worthy just because it's old.
The phrase "well edited selection" used to bug me but after winnowing out the chaff there is something to be said for pre-selected and inspected items.
My taste isn't going to be everyone's and mine changes every year, some of my customers love it and some feel that I'm not carrying enough of what they like. But you know, there are tons of stores in Austin that DO carry 50s toasters, teapots, shabby chic and original Nancy Drew books, it's just not at my store.
I don't like dark stores, and while I dig the 'ye olde curiousity shop' feel of a really dusty shop, I keep our store well lit and as clean as possible. I'm always happy to have someone come in and say Wow this place is: beautiful, gorgeous, so cool, so clean, so pretty, smells so nice, amazing.. I really love to hear it because I work hard to keep it that way. I spent weeks agonizing over paint colors, lost the tip of a finger putting in the big maple wall. The heart, soul and more has gone into the store and so it's wonderful to hear the compliments.
Of course the downside to all that heart and soul is some people get all the way up my nose within 30 seconds of walking in.
When someone you've never seen before walks in and says something really nasty just to be an ass, it can be a little off putting.
Usually I can shake it off, however twice (in 5 years) I've asked people to simply leave and not return. It's easier that way. For everyone.
I'll get around to telling those tales some other time.
Be warned, if you walk into a vintage or antique store, it's 90% likely you'll be talking to the owner. (and now for something completely different... it's like a segue)
One of our friends is a film maker and we joked about spoofing the movie Clerks at the store, while I think it would be hilarious and probably would be great for a laugh, it might be too close to the truth.
I'm more of the 'Black Books' persuasion anyways. Bitchy cranky chain smoking drunk Scottish guys crack me up. We're big BBC fans in the Austin Modern household. The dogs are named Spenser and Fergus, of course.... nevermind.
Spence, master beggar at work
Fergus AKA The NuuugeSpeaking of.... How NOT to Decorate on BBC America is back on with new episodes. Nothing gives me the giggles faster than listening to two whip smart queens read someone's bad 80s home design. We've also been checking out Design Sponge online, one of our customers turned us on to it last year and we've been closet addicts ever since.
Ha ha, my friend Ronn from Futures Antiques is trying to read the blog and can't sign in.
Ronn, can you read this?
Ronn, can you read this?
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Austin Modern Page one
We've been kicking around the idea of starting a blog for the shop for a while.... Jim has his you'llshootyoureyeout blog for his vintage board game finds, and my friend Ronn with Futures Antiques blogs about his shop and customers... sometimes without mercy..
Often times something funny happens at the store and there's no one else to share it with outside of whomever we see over dinner.
So here's the blog.
We'll post updates from the store, either cool new finds, or unique restoration products, interactions with the inhabitants of the revolving freakfest that is North Loop....
So far, we've been on North Loop for almost 5 years now and we've seen a fair bit of changes.
When we first moved in we were the first retail store east of Ave E, which was like pulling teeth since there is that little bend in the road and historically no one ever drove east of the bend.
Luckily our friends at RoomService Vintage were kind enough to let us hang a banner that said "More Vintage, 2 Blocks". That banner has been there for almost a year and we've been here for almost 5 and people still walk in and say "Hey, when did you guys open? I've never been here!"
Funny. I've been waiting for YOU to come in for years! ha ha
North Loop is weird, there are these clusters of aging businesses and aging buildings, and the rest of the neighborhood has gentrified over the years. Someone said the other day that we had helped with the gentrification. I wasn't sure how I felt about that.
When we first moved in the building looked like this:
Kinda sad little shack of a building. But I loved this building from afar. I used to be across the street in a sadder little shack totaling a grand 450sq feet. 450. Most studio apartments are bigger than that! And yet I had a little store in a little building and most slow days I'd sit in front of my business and stare at this abandoned building. Long story short we moved into this building. And after 14 grueling days in 110 degree Texas heat and mostly by myself, I made this:
And then after another year we did this and this: Which involved the near loss of Jim's thumb and a lot of Watermelon. Summer in Texas you have to have watermelon!
Ewwww
And then this year we added bitchen Window Art (AKA Burglar Bars) and a rad new sign.
So welcome to Austin Modern Vintage, Mid Century Design! Hang out for a while, everyone else does!
Often times something funny happens at the store and there's no one else to share it with outside of whomever we see over dinner.
So here's the blog.
We'll post updates from the store, either cool new finds, or unique restoration products, interactions with the inhabitants of the revolving freakfest that is North Loop....
So far, we've been on North Loop for almost 5 years now and we've seen a fair bit of changes.
When we first moved in we were the first retail store east of Ave E, which was like pulling teeth since there is that little bend in the road and historically no one ever drove east of the bend.
Luckily our friends at RoomService Vintage were kind enough to let us hang a banner that said "More Vintage, 2 Blocks". That banner has been there for almost a year and we've been here for almost 5 and people still walk in and say "Hey, when did you guys open? I've never been here!"
Funny. I've been waiting for YOU to come in for years! ha ha
North Loop is weird, there are these clusters of aging businesses and aging buildings, and the rest of the neighborhood has gentrified over the years. Someone said the other day that we had helped with the gentrification. I wasn't sure how I felt about that.
When we first moved in the building looked like this:
Kinda sad little shack of a building. But I loved this building from afar. I used to be across the street in a sadder little shack totaling a grand 450sq feet. 450. Most studio apartments are bigger than that! And yet I had a little store in a little building and most slow days I'd sit in front of my business and stare at this abandoned building. Long story short we moved into this building. And after 14 grueling days in 110 degree Texas heat and mostly by myself, I made this:
And then after another year we did this and this: Which involved the near loss of Jim's thumb and a lot of Watermelon. Summer in Texas you have to have watermelon!
Ewwww
And then this year we added bitchen Window Art (AKA Burglar Bars) and a rad new sign.
So welcome to Austin Modern Vintage, Mid Century Design! Hang out for a while, everyone else does!
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