John Rodgers on mon 3 nov 08
Just afew comments -
I have been doing a series of shows and festivals EVERY weekend now for
a while. Beginning in the latter part of August, the sales began to
fall. I just did a two-day dedicated art show and and even though it has
been in existence for 34 years, and shows in a premium location - the
show didn't earn enough at the "Gate" this year to pay for the rental of
the show space. That is very bad.
Here is how the sales went, generally.
Jewelry people did well all around and made money.
Big ticket, high end sculpture sold well. The two sculptors made good
bucks selling really large items - like three foot tall items and bigger.
The rest of the troops did good if they recovered their booth fees.
It was not a good show.
John Rodgers
Chelsea, AL
David Hendley on tue 4 nov 08
September at my shop was probably my worst month
for sales in a decade. Of course, having a hurricane
blow through and cause massive damage didn't help put
people in a pottery shopping frame of mind.
Couple that with constant news reports about the economy
imploding, with mortgage defaults and stock market
melt downs, and I expected the worst for my two
October art festivals.
Well, I was absolutely stunned when my sales at the first
festival were great. Sales were 3-to-5 times last year!
Granted, sales were not so good last year, but I am certainly
glad I decided to give the show another chance.
The Texas Clay Festival has always been a fantastic show
for sales. My sales have pretty much increased every
year over the course of the last 15 years, with a few exceptions,
when total sales either remained stagnant or decreased
slightly. This was one of those no-growth years, but I
am certainly not complaining or discouraged that sales
volume held up in the face of these more difficult times.
I am now optimistically looking forward to my other big
show - the annual open house at my studio. My advertising
this year was conceived in the summer before the economic
turmoil, but I think it turned out to be the perfect theme
for the times - in the photo I am holding pottery I made in
1975 and the tag line is "made to last for generations"
(see my website for this year's flier, Karen is also in the photo).
People still need and want to buy gifts, and I think they will
be looking for things that have lasting value.
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
david(at)farmpots(dot)com
http://www.farmpots.com
Pottery by John on tue 4 nov 08
Like John Rodgers, I was in the 22nd annual two day show/sale at the local
arts center that is typically well attended. My sales were just over 60% of
the previous year. All of the other potters I spoke with had a similar
reduction or less. The painting market was way down; some sold nothing.
John Lowes
Sandy Springs, GA
Larry Kruzan on wed 5 nov 08
That is pretty much what I and everyone around here has been seeing all year
- 40-60% of normal volume per show. I can't do more shows to make it up so
I'm working on Ecommerce. Retail walk-in trade has been off about the same
amount.
I grafted the downturn compared to gas prices - very informative. As folks
put any extra money into the gas tank they feel less inclined to make luxury
or impulse purchases. We still have to try but next year I will be much more
selective about shows.
Larry Kruzan
Lost Creek Pottery
www.lostcreekpottery.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of John Rodgers
Sent: Monday, November 03, 2008 9:09 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: [CLAYART] Economic Downturn - show's, festivals, etc!
Just afew comments -
I have been doing a series of shows and festivals EVERY weekend now for
a while. Beginning in the latter part of August, the sales began to
fall. I just did a two-day dedicated art show and and even though it has
been in existence for 34 years, and shows in a premium location - the
show didn't earn enough at the "Gate" this year to pay for the rental of
the show space. That is very bad.
Here is how the sales went, generally.
Jewelry people did well all around and made money.
Big ticket, high end sculpture sold well. The two sculptors made good
bucks selling really large items - like three foot tall items and bigger.
The rest of the troops did good if they recovered their booth fees.
It was not a good show.
John Rodgers
Chelsea, AL
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May Luk on wed 5 nov 08
Hello all;
What I gathered from this thread is I need to make jewelry! Too bad I am no=
t very good at making beads. But if Greyson Perry is designing jewelry....
I am doing a virtual trunk show at etsy with my {new york} street team. on =
the 13 November. It will be an interesting event to sell online interactive=
ly, and could be the next generation of ecommerce. I have to try out my new=
webcam. (was thinking of hot pink turtleneck with hotpink backdrop. I will=
be just a floating head) There will be raffles and trivia games and shoppi=
ng/selling - do it all in underpants if one chooses to. It will be only for=
an hour if your legs start to fall asleep.
http://www.etsy.com/virtual_labs.php
I'll make a report on how it turned out.
May
Brooklyn NY
P.S. my shop name is mayluk if you don't mind eye sores.
--- On Wed, 5/11/08, Larry Kruzan wrote:
[...]
> I'm working on Ecommerce. Retail walk-in trade has
> been off about the same
> amount.
[...]
>=20
> Larry Kruzan
> Lost Creek Pottery
> www.lostcreekpottery.com
>=20
>=20
>
=0A=0A=0A
Victoria E. Hamilton on wed 5 nov 08
David -
I love the flyer! What a fabulous idea. And, you and Karen look great.
Seriously, your tag line may be just the message folks will be glad to see
in these times.
Buona fortuna!
Vicki Hamilton
Millennia Antica Pottery
Seattle, WA
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of David Hendley
Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2008 7:37 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: Economic Downturn - show's, festivals, etc!
September at my shop was probably my worst month for sales in a decade. Of
course, having a hurricane blow through and cause massive damage didn't help
put people in a pottery shopping frame of mind.
Couple that with constant news reports about the economy imploding, with
mortgage defaults and stock market melt downs, and I expected the worst for
my two October art festivals.
Well, I was absolutely stunned when my sales at the first festival were
great. Sales were 3-to-5 times last year!
Granted, sales were not so good last year, but I am certainly glad I decided
to give the show another chance.
The Texas Clay Festival has always been a fantastic show for sales. My sales
have pretty much increased every year over the course of the last 15 years,
with a few exceptions, when total sales either remained stagnant or
decreased slightly. This was one of those no-growth years, but I am
certainly not complaining or discouraged that sales volume held up in the
face of these more difficult times.
I am now optimistically looking forward to my other big show - the annual
open house at my studio. My advertising this year was conceived in the
summer before the economic turmoil, but I think it turned out to be the
perfect theme for the times - in the photo I am holding pottery I made in
1975 and the tag line is "made to last for generations"
(see my website for this year's flier, Karen is also in the photo).
People still need and want to buy gifts, and I think they will be looking
for things that have lasting value.
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
david(at)farmpots(dot)com
http://www.farmpots.com
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