by Lita Solis-Cohen

The malaise that has hung over the antiques marketplace showed little signs of abating at Barry Cohen’s York County Classic Antiques Show, held May 6 and 7 at Toyota Arena West at the York Fairgrounds. The dealers brought the best they could muster: painted furniture, painted pantry boxes, desirable Anglo-English pottery, some redware and stoneware, a few weathervanes, quilts and coverlets, hooked rugs and sewing items, holiday decorations, dolls, signs, and political collectibles. Prices generally were reasonable. Nevertheless, less than half the dealers were pleased with the number of sales, and they said most of their sales were to other dealers.

When the show opened on Friday, there were a few collectors at the head of the line, and some had come from the Midwest and the South. The quick sales in the first hour were to dealers, many of whom were set up next door at Frank Gaglio’s Pennsylvania Spring Antiques Show, and to some of the dealers who would be back at the fairgrounds for Jim Burk’s show on Memorial Day weekend.

Cohen opened his show at 8 a.m. and provided his usual coffee and doughnuts. Frank Gaglio obliged by not opening his show until 11 a.m., but three hours was too long a wait. Most people had finished shopping the 62 dealers at York County Classic in two hours and were ready to go on to the next venue by 10 a.m.

There was some real energy, and the aisles were crowded for about an hour and a half, and then the excitement was over. On Friday afternoon some of the dealers went next door to shop Frank Gaglio’s show, asking their neighbors to tend their booths. Saturday was quiet too. Good weather was the competition; the garden beckoned and so did the golf course.

"We figured we needed three hours between openings when our show was going to be at the motel because we needed the time for driving and parking, but when the Toyota Arena became available after Frank canceled his Pickers Market, it seemed right to move the show there even though a graduation on Wednesday night meant dealers could not start to move in until Thursday afternoon," Barry Cohen explained. "The opening and closing hours had been advertised and printed in our brochures, and we did not change them," he added.

The dealers liked exhibiting at the Toyota Arena. Frank Gaglio and Barry Cohen cooperated. Cohen sent over porters on Thursday when Gaglio had a need. Gaglio took in FedEx and UPS deliveries for Cohen. They agreed on advertising and opening and closing times.

The only thing missing was the crowd of buyers that Gaglio had promised to lure to York when he arrived there in the fall of 2003. The crowds that were supposed to stop in York on their way to Brimfield this spring did not materialize. York is just not a tourist spot; it is not a destination like Manchester, New Hampshire, or Santa Fe, New Mexico, in August.

Some thought the fact that there were only two shows and half as many dealers as last November was a plus in this weak economy. There was less competition for the dollars available, but the York experiment still seemed to be in flux.

"York would have worked with three shows if they had staggered the openings," said Massachusetts dealer Brian Cullity. But with Jim Burk returning to Memorial Day weekend, people in Ohio who have been coming to York for years just didn’t want to travel twice in one month. They would come for Burk’s show at the end of the month. Those who did come from afar said they won’t be back in York on Memorial Day weekend.

The cost of gas, the weak economy, and the slumping stock market took its toll. Nevertheless, Barry Cohen has not given up on York. "I will be back in the fall sharing Memorial Hall with Jim Burk," he said. "The fall show is always a stronger show than May, and for the last ten years Jim and I have made November work. If buyers want this tradition to continue, they will come and support the dealers."

A loyal group of dealers seem to be willing to hang in there, hoping the market will improve. The promoters seem willing to do anything the customers ask. "We gave them fewer shows, fewer dealers, and more time to rest between shows this time," said Cohen.

Those who do not want to see the York shows disappear pointed out that (Melvin) Butch Arion’s long-running stand-alone shows in Memorial Hall on the York Fairgrounds in early September and early February do very well and that Arion has a long waiting list. Arion may be the only victor in this turf war that began in fall 2003 and may not be resolved until May 2006. Stay tuned.