Finale of SoWa's First Season

Boston, Massachusetts

by Jeanne Schinto

I have already reported on Marvin Getman's SoWa Antiques Market, whose opening weekend was in mid-May (see M.A.D., August 2009, p. 30-B). The show ran weekly through the spring, summer, and early fall, and this follow-up story describes its 2009 finale on Sunday, October 25.

I stayed all day, from setup at 7 a.m. to breakdown at 4 p.m., talking to dealers and flagging down customers who were carrying purchases, which ranged in price from $125 for a vase of indeterminate age to $5 for a group of seven books. We did see more expensive items on dealers' tables, but generally I noted significant price adjustments since my first visit. The dealer roster itself was also very different.

Price often defines an antiques venue. One need only scan the list of dealers to know where in the spectrum a show falls. One can imagine the whole scene without even attending. While prices on that final weekend at SoWa were undeniably low, there is something else, perhaps more significant, that defines this show: the customers. As I discovered on my first visit, they aren't the usual suspects. Many are in their twenties and thirties, and all seemed very excited by what they were seeing, often for the first time. They may not have spent a lot, but they were having a ball, especially since it was the weekend before Halloween, and many people were in costume.

Some dealers will tell you that the customers are geared to mid-20th-century items as they browse for oddities to add to their home décor or wardrobe, but I also observed young people swooning over, of all things, Victoriana. I asked one dealer what they seemed most interested in. "Everything!" he replied.

They don't act like typical collectors on the hunt, because they aren't. For one thing, they don't get there early. At setup Sandie Fowler and Wendy Harvey, known widely for their antique ceramic tiles, observed that although the official start time was ten, it wouldn't get crowded until noon. "Then, at the other end, when we're closing up at four, there are crowds around," explained the Dunstable, Massachusetts, dealers. That turned out to be exactly true.

I should quickly add that I learned more high-end items were sold in the dead of summer. That's because the young locals were joined by tourists from the hotels.

"We've had a couple of good weeks out of ten, in the middle of the summer," Fowler and Harvey said. One good sale was to a Californian. Despite the slow weeks, they found the whole enterprise "encouraging" because the people, no matter what the season, "just looked and looked."

For those who missed my first report, the venue is in Boston's South End, where there is room for 50 dealers in a magnificent old brick trolley barn. It's a roof over their heads, but the windows have no glass. Rain, therefore, is not something to worry about, but wind is, and I have witnessed it.

"That first weekend, we had wind gusts over forty miles an hour, and that caused problems," said Getman. "But by the third or fourth week, I had found a solution." It was in the form of canvas wind screens that hung in the open windows.

In the large outdoor space adjacent to the show is another weekly event, under tents, the SoWa Open Market (www.southend openmarket.com). Founded six years ago by Chris Masci, it has space for 140 juried vendors: purveyors of arts, crafts, farmer's market produce, and other foods.

It's not clear that the people who come through the gate understand that there are two completely different entities here, run by two different promoters. In the end, however, it really doesn't matter.

Since admission is free, and no one stands by the gate with a clicker, it's hard to know how many people attend each week, but estimates by Masci put the count, on average, at 4000 to 5000 on any given Sunday.

"Adding the antiques market has been, surprisingly, very beneficial to us, with the additional traffic it generates," Masci said. Getman, for his part, has said many times that Masci's operation has been good for him. In fact, he established his show at the same location because Masci had already created the destination.

In the past, Masci used brochures to generate some hotel traffic. In 2009 that traffic substantially increased as a result of a joint effort by Getman, Masci, and the property's landlord, GTI Properties; together they joined the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau. Describing the benefits, Masci said, "For the entire year, they promote us. They give literature out to the concierges. They also send newsletters to the hotels, letting them know we're here. It was a concerted effort."

Getman found that a lot of other new publicity also came his way. "Local media, blogs, and Web sites that are geared toward things that are happening in the city-they loved it," he said. "Frankly, I found it easier to get publicity for SoWa than I do for my other shows, which are out in the suburbs. This is in the city; this is where it's happening."

Occasional spottings of celebrities, including Tom Cruise, helped the media cause.

Neither Masci's nor Getman's event is one that a vendor is expected to do every week. "Most of mine are on the crafts circuit and book five to ten dates throughout the season," said Masci. (In fact, Masci requires a minimum commitment of five dates, but if a vendor pays for all five at once, he or she receives a sixth date free.) "It's a rotating group, and that's a good thing."

Along the same lines, Getman said, "I don't want the same fifty dealers to do the show every week. I love the variety, and I think that's what draws people back. It was good to have dealers who did it once or twice a month."

In the end, Getman calculated that 160 dealers in all took part at one time or another. "There were some people who gave it only one shot, and if they didn't do well, they didn't come back, especially if they had to travel a distance," he said. "Others came back, and now some are sorry they didn't do it more often. We hit capacity the final week and on a couple of other weekends in the fall."

Getman said the format won't change for its second year. "I like the way it turned out. I was really happy. You never know, when you're starting a new venture, how it's going to go. It was really just a fun experience."

He added that even when the economy improves, he'll still want a mix of high and low prices. "You need to satisfy your market. In the beginning, without question, I would say the quality was better, especially opening weekend. As it stands, it is what it is, and I'm happy with the way it is, and I found that there are enough dealers who like it too."

Our final question to Getman was how he managed to adjust to a schedule that required him to promote a show every week. He credited his staff, Charna Zeller and Dennis Wolbach. "Without them, it would not have been possible."

For more information, contact New England Antique Shows at (781) 862-4039; Web site (www.neantiqueshows.com).

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