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Lake George, New York
The Second Annual Lake George Antique Show
by Betty Flood

The second annual Lake George Antique Show, held October 1 and 2, 2005, has been described as beautiful, OK, delightful, and with outstanding merchandise. The benefit preview for the Double "H" Hole in the Woods Ranch, a camp for seriously ill children partly sponsored by Paul Newman, did not draw the anticipated crowd that would have benefited the charity. Several dealers, however, came through and helped to spread the wealth. David Griffiths sold two rugs and a cherry hanging cupboard, and Mark Humpal made a new customer from New Jersey.

The caliber of dealers was certainly a credit to promoters Claudia Spitzer and Marie Slywka, who had a budget of $10,000 for advertising, which included newspapers, trade papers, radio, television, roadside signs, banners, tickets, and posters.

Don Flaws of Berne, New York, thought the merchandise was outstanding but said he did not do that well. Thomas Conway of Rutland, Vermont, thought there was a nice variety of dealers; he sold several Oriental rugs and had a follow-up sale of a 7' country table after the show.

Martin Cruver of Macungie, Pennsylvania, said he didn't have any high expectations because it was the first time he had done the show. He did, however, make a nice sale of a Russian icon at the show and a telescope after the show and did well before the show with dealers on the floor. "The best thing was the quality that most shows are lacking. Young people are also missing." But he vowed to come back because, as he said, you need to have people get to know you.

Mark Lawson, local sponsor of the Antiques Roadshow on WMHT-TV, said he thought he had one house call and made a profit. "I thought it was very nice that we got the food that we got, but I haven't done a lot of shows, so I'm not sure if that's the norm." (Lawson was referring to the buffet during the preview, to which the dealers were invited.)

"The loading in and out seemed to work reasonably well. I haven't done a whole lot of shows, and I don't bring signature material," Lawson said. "The way the show works for me in the bigger picture of how I do business is I bring things that I haven't been able to sell and mark them at cost or slightly above and just kind of blow them out, and that tends to work well, even at shows where people aren't spending a lot of money. That seems to generate enough sales to justify me doing it."

Many dealers who did the show last year said they thought there was great improvement because they were able to get show cards earlier in the season and pass them out to prospective customers.

Tom Conway said any show needs at least three years to get off the ground. Citing the "nice variety," Conway said you can't do it in one year or even two. You have to keep at it for at least three to five years.

Michael Albanese said he was very impressed by the support from a lot of people involved with producing the show. "When you are doing a show alone, the staff makes a big difference. I saw a lot of new faces and got a couple of nice customers."

Nancy Chudzik, who specializes in Chinese furnishings and accessories, said she did OK but stressed the fact that she met many new people who were interested in her merchandise and liked the look of the show in general. Chudzik travels to China to make her selections and chooses carefully what she wants to bring back to the States for her shop.

The O'Donoghues said they sold three pieces of furniture but made more sales in glass and porcelain. "The smaller items at least seventy-five percent of the time are less expensive than a piece of furniture," Stephanie O'Donoghue said, "and the cost of gas did not help at all. I think that's what makes the market a little bit soft. The promoters did an excellent job, and they're wonderful people. I think they went so far out of their way to make the show a success. It had absolutely nothing to do with them that the aisles weren't packed. As usual, some people sold very well, while others were complaining, but in today's market you have to be a salesman. I never shut up. I'm very optimistic."

The third annual Lake George Antique Show will be held September 30 and October 1. For more information, contact Claudia Spitzer at (518) 668-5096.