Counter intuitive

Why is it that businesses, usually small businesses, stop advertising when the economy goes south?

So... advertise in in good times to make it even better and don't advertise in bad times not to make it worse?

The best time to advertise is when business is down. There will always be people who buy antiques, go to events, indulge in places of history. If they don't know where those places are, they can't...

but, at least, you saved money not advertising.

Al's taking it easy

Long-time and valuable advertising rep for Discover Mid-America Al Hedrick drove himself to the hospital Tuesday afternoon. By that night he went in for open-heart surgery. Everything went well but Al will be out of the office for awhile.

Please direct questions and queries to Bruce Rodgers, publisher.

Holiday delay

This issue (June '08) will be a little late in getting to some of you because of the holiday and the fact I took off a few days. (Man, did I need it.) Look for FedEx in the coming week and statements, also.

BR

Hard times makes for sticky fingers

We're getting reports about increases of theft in shops and malls. Most shops and malls can't afford elaborate anti-theft systems so the best recourse is to pay attention to your customers, particularly ones you don't know. Many times the layout of the shop/mall makes that difficult particularly with limited staff. In that case, make sure your most valuable items are under lock and key.

Other things to consider is posting a sign at the front door stating "NO LARGE BAGS IN STORE," and enforcing the policy. A favorite trick of shoplifters is working in teams as one thief distracts a clerk and the other steals. If there's more than one person working the store, don't get caught with both clerks helping one customer. If alone, a good policy is not to leave the counter behind the front door, therefore watching who comes and goes, and if someone has a question, have them bring the question to the clerk.

Times are getting easier so be wary of unfamiliar faces. If you've got some ideas on preventing theft, comment back. And, of course, talk to your local police force about other prevention measures to take.

The value of antiques

The new issue will be out tomorrow. In an interview with Bruce Burstert, a dealer in Lexington/Kansas City, MO that is part of the cover feature, he mentions that antiques are "undervalued." Unfortunately, we need to follow up with that remark.

Shop owner occasionly mention — particularly when we raise our advertising rates — that they can't do the same...i.e. raise their prices.

Why not? Could it be the market they're in? Could it be the quality of the inventory? Could it be the misperception that price alone governs someone's buying motivation?
With the cost of everything going up, when and how much to raise prices to cover increasing costs are vital issues for survival.

wondering about the source

Antique News (about the only vehicle this trade has for disseminating information about the antiques and collectibles on a large scale) issued a press release Jan. 1 quoting TIAS.com as having a "19%" increase in sales volume in December 2007 compared to December 2006. The press release appeared to have been completely written by TIAS, a Mr. Phillip Davies more specifically.

Man, it didn't take them long to pull together the figures...one day? And since Antique News didn't appear to do any verifying on the claim, then we must assume they did all the math in one day. Pretty good, considering TIAS says it sells for 530 merchants.

The press release went on to say that "many Internet based antique & collectibles merchants have reported significant decreases in online sales volume over the past 3 years." The press release didn't identify who those other online merchants were.

The press release also made a point of expressing that because of (I assume) their sales increases and that "many merchants have just pulled out of the market entirely because they could not get the returns they need to stay in business," the market may be turning around.

We could all rejoice to the market "turning around." Still, I have to say the press release seemed somewhat self-serving for TIAS.com. Sort of, they did good, everybody else didn't.

To their credit, they invited "accredited media" to give them a call to discuss the press release and other issues related to online sales. Hopefully, someone at Antique News takes them up on it.

new year news

Economic news about retail sales were just about what was predicted for the most part. People shopped, they just didn't buy as much.

One bit of news you should pay attention to if you're a retailer is that online sales jumped 21% from last year. If you have a shopping cart with your site, it's time to advertise as such...advertise online, of course.

Depending upon what you read or whom you listen to on the news programs, we're either toying with a recession or overstating the possibility of it. Trouble with the forecasting is that's it's all macro – the big picture, without regard to specific areas of the country or segements of the economy. I could write for hours on what I think antique shop owners should do to ride out any rough economic times; some of our recent articles allude to such suggestions. But I have to face it, most antique business people think they know what they need to know, and a lot don't pay much attention to the industry except in their own backyard. No wonder the trade is suffering – ignorance can be a killer in this business.