New York City

For show managers staging either outdoor or indoor antiques and collectibles events, the weather is a wild card. They can work very hard to promote a show, to get experienced and knowledgeable exhibitors with interesting merchandise, but the outcome often hinges on what Mother Nature serves up. Rain or snow can be the difference between a roaring success and a disappointment for all concerned.

That reality was certainly demonstrated at the Antiques @ the Piers show in Manhattan on the weekend of January 22 and 23. Stella Show Management had a total of 345 dealers exhibiting on two piers. One pier was devoted primarily to folk and American items, including furniture and art, while the other one focused on eclectic, modern, and European objects, including jewelry and fashion. Overall, there was a vast array of fine antiques and collectibles for visitors to enjoy.

The show got off to a strong start on Saturday morning with showgoers crowding the aisles, but by about noontime the giant windows of the piers began presenting a winter scene with increasingly heavy snow falling on the Hudson River and its shorelines. By the time it ended late that evening, the storm had dumped some 13" of slippery, wet snow and had rather quickly paralyzed the city.

By mid-afternoon the number of people arriving at the show had tapered off noticeably, although a surprising number of them stayed until closing. When they did decide to leave, many of them found that transportation, especially in the form of taxicabs, was in short supply. The piers are not directly on a street but are accessed by ramps, much like those found at most larger airports. That meant that by late afternoon, hundreds of people were waiting for cabs but only dozens were arriving as they delivered new visitors to the show. Stella was operating shuttle busses to their other show at the 26th Street Armory and to the Winter Antiques Show. Many people opted to catch the busses to those locations, where there were likely to be more cabs available.

By Sunday morning both the weather and the transportation situation had improved a great deal. But visitor traffic at the piers was very light throughout the day. In 2003, Stella Show Management staged weekend pier shows at both ends of Americana week. The first one attracted some 10,000 visitors, the second about 9000. Leanne Stella said this year's numbers for the single show totaled between 4000 and 5000, about half of either of the 2003 counts. "We really didn't have a Sunday this year," she said candidly.

Not surprisingly, most of the exhibitors said their sales results were well below what they had experienced at previous Americana pier shows. But, there were some notable exceptions. Scott Smith and Mindy Schwarz of High Street Antiques, York, Maine, said Saturday had been "a great day with exceptional results." They had buyers for a French iron bed ($2200), a louvered transom ($2000), a set of three cast-iron dogs ($500), and numerous mirrors in the $300 to $1000 price range, including one from Philadelphia tagged $900.

Leanne Lipston of Inddesign, Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania, said her sales of attractively designed industrial objects had been strong and consistent and included a French aluminum camera ($450), two acetylene torch boxes in impressive Deco design ($150), an industrial mat ($40), and smalls such as an aluminum truck, a rocket toy, and an aluminum ball.

Carol Waldman of Back Roads, Sea Cliff, New York, called it "a great show." Among her sold items were a 19th-century European bureau tagged $2100; a garden tea caddy, $850; a wooden planter, $500; and a dough box for $500.

Lewis Alessio and Jim Shaffer of Plenty and Grace, Greene, Maine, had a successful weekend thanks largely to a single buyer. Alessio said an interior decorator had purchased about $10,000 worth of their items including a pie safe, a buffet, a large grain or coffee scale, a miniature wheelbarrow, a baker's table, and a porcelain grocery scale.

Ellen Asbell of Boyertown, Pennsylvania, said Saturday had been an active sales day for her, although most of the items were in the lower price ranges, including a water trough at $325, a small painted Sheraton style country table at $200, and a wicker-covered demijohn for $100. She and several other exhibitors also agreed that the blizzard may have had an unexpected positive impact on their sales. They felt visitors at most antiques shows go through a rather slow and leisurely buying process. They walk around the entire show as they identify a few items that are of special interest to them. They may go back and look more closely at these selected pieces, perhaps beginning to negotiate prices with the dealers. Finally, they pinpoint one or two objects and make their purchase or purchases. The snow may have had the effect of applying pressure to that leisurely buying process. Many of the visitors had driven in from outlying places in New Jersey, Connecticut, or Long Island, and wanted to start home before the storm got any worse. Others were out-of-town visitors who had been in Manhattan for Americana Week. They may have wanted to be on their way to the airports. So the end result may have been to speed up the buying decisions, thus benefiting at least some of the pier's exhibitors.