Thursday, August 23, 2007
Back in Austin now after a week of R&R with the family. No real news to report, except that my lease negotiations are finally progressing and the landlord capitulated on most of the important deal points, first and foremost being a January opening date instead of the November one they originally demanded. I've been resisting a 2007 launch due to two fears: that the interior of the store can't be satisfactorily finished out in that time frame, regardless of the landlord's insistence that it could be completed by Oct. 15; and that I wouldn't have enough time to complete the necessary stocking of vintage furniture, which I'm anticipating will comprise the largest portion of the store's income. I'm planning on buying most of my initial furniture inventory at the various 20th-century design auctions taking place this fall. Of the six I plan to attend, four are transpiring in December, meaning if I opened in November I'd have to leave the just-opened store in someone else's hands for a big chunk of the month (during the year's busiest shopping season, no less) while pogoing back and forth between Austin, Chicago and New York.
Since I had to block off all of November in anticipation of a possible launch -- if it was going to be a dealbreaker in terms of getting the space, I had considered going ahead with a 2007 launch even given the hassles ... although I've since revisited that opinion -- I'm now free to spend it hitting additional areas of the globe in search for interesting items to sell. Options on the table include Amsterdam and Copenhagen -- although the dollar is exceedingly weak in Europe right now, they're both undeniable design meccas -- and, more likely, Morocco (in particular Marrakech, Casablanca and Fez). I'm also contemplating a climb up Kilimanjaro while in Africa, but that's another story. (Yes, I'm serious. I was supposed to do it with my brother and ex-stepmom a few years ago, but I canceled due to some family drama-related issues and have always regretted it. It remains to be seen whether I could get in acceptable shape for it by November -- the first couple of days are easy, according to my brother, but the ascent's apparently a total bitch once you hit 16,000 feet -- but I may not have another opportunity to do so for a long time, given that it's an eight-day hike plus at least another 2-3 days total en route between the US and Tanzania.)
Since I had to block off all of November in anticipation of a possible launch -- if it was going to be a dealbreaker in terms of getting the space, I had considered going ahead with a 2007 launch even given the hassles ... although I've since revisited that opinion -- I'm now free to spend it hitting additional areas of the globe in search for interesting items to sell. Options on the table include Amsterdam and Copenhagen -- although the dollar is exceedingly weak in Europe right now, they're both undeniable design meccas -- and, more likely, Morocco (in particular Marrakech, Casablanca and Fez). I'm also contemplating a climb up Kilimanjaro while in Africa, but that's another story. (Yes, I'm serious. I was supposed to do it with my brother and ex-stepmom a few years ago, but I canceled due to some family drama-related issues and have always regretted it. It remains to be seen whether I could get in acceptable shape for it by November -- the first couple of days are easy, according to my brother, but the ascent's apparently a total bitch once you hit 16,000 feet -- but I may not have another opportunity to do so for a long time, given that it's an eight-day hike plus at least another 2-3 days total en route between the US and Tanzania.)
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Greetings from L.A. I'm here on a quick recon mission of sorts, scouting out the city's most interesting modern design emporiums (and sneaking pics with my iPhone on the sly, when possible - you'll find them in a new photo album via the link to your right). I made 8 or 9 stops, but among the highlights was NOHO Modern, owned by a very cute (and surprisingly young - well, younger than I am, at least) lad named Jeremy. Note the Papa Bear chair in the shot I snapped of the interior. NOHO has implemented one of the ideas I'd thought of: a plasma TV with a continuous slideshow of all the stuff in their inventory (mostly warehoused elsewhere in the city). They have one of the best 20th-century collections in town, including a $30,000 Nakashima table ... all, this being L.A., being run by a guy wearing a t-shirt and Havaiana flip-flops! (Suffice it to say I won't be dressing that casually, even in Austin.)
I also had to pop in to the new Moss outpost, which just opened a week or two ago (and, unsurprisingly, run by yet another hottie - that seems to be the rule, rather than the exception, in this town). The L.A. Moss differs significantly from the NYC space in that it's primarily designed to be a gallery as opposed to a location where, you know, quotidien stuff like merchandise sales goes on. (I can't imagine there's a huge market for Steinway grand pianos "deconstructed" by Maarten Bass, an avant-garde artist. I didn't ask the price, but I'm guessing it's well into the six-figure range, considering Moss sells chairs constructed out of plushed animals for $30K.) There's only a smattering of furniture at the L.A. outpost, and no china, bathroom fixtures, fabrics or small items. Supercool, yes. Practical, no, and I'm not entirely clear why the store even exists, except maybe as a very expensive advertising medium for the New York space.
Twentieth comes probably the closest to what I had in mind in terms of a collection for Kirk: new and vintage, avant-garde and mainstay, and interesting art that isn't absurdly overpriced. Blackman Cruz -- featured recently on "Entourage" (as the store where Vince goes to buy Eric a desk, only to discover Gary Busey beat him to the punch) -- gets the prize for the weirdest collection of stuff, including a large cache of (hideously overpriced) Argentinean seltzer bottles ($250 a pop, for something I could get for maybe $20 in Buenos Aires, if not less).
I also had to pop in to the new Moss outpost, which just opened a week or two ago (and, unsurprisingly, run by yet another hottie - that seems to be the rule, rather than the exception, in this town). The L.A. Moss differs significantly from the NYC space in that it's primarily designed to be a gallery as opposed to a location where, you know, quotidien stuff like merchandise sales goes on. (I can't imagine there's a huge market for Steinway grand pianos "deconstructed" by Maarten Bass, an avant-garde artist. I didn't ask the price, but I'm guessing it's well into the six-figure range, considering Moss sells chairs constructed out of plushed animals for $30K.) There's only a smattering of furniture at the L.A. outpost, and no china, bathroom fixtures, fabrics or small items. Supercool, yes. Practical, no, and I'm not entirely clear why the store even exists, except maybe as a very expensive advertising medium for the New York space.
Twentieth comes probably the closest to what I had in mind in terms of a collection for Kirk: new and vintage, avant-garde and mainstay, and interesting art that isn't absurdly overpriced. Blackman Cruz -- featured recently on "Entourage" (as the store where Vince goes to buy Eric a desk, only to discover Gary Busey beat him to the punch) -- gets the prize for the weirdest collection of stuff, including a large cache of (hideously overpriced) Argentinean seltzer bottles ($250 a pop, for something I could get for maybe $20 in Buenos Aires, if not less).
Saturday, August 11, 2007
I haven't had good luck lately with shipments into Austin. Two large artworks intended for my living room wall arrived with shattered plexiglass and, in one case, a broken frame; since the cause was inadequate packing and the cargo shipper brazenly lied to the gallerist I bought them from as to how they'd be wrapped and delivered, I've been contemplating a small-claims suit next time I'm in NYC (not that the replacement cost is turning out to be that high, but these cargo guys are, frankly, shady assholes who need to be called on their actions). In the past week alone I had two tables arrive with at least one leg broken off in transit; one of them (also intended for my house) was a beautiful Milo Baughman burlwood console table that will be nearly impossible to replace. Both can be repaired, but in terms of selling them in the store (not that I'd be selling the Baughman piece anytime soon), I can't market them as "original condition," which significantly decreases their value. Lesson learned: never ship anything via Greyhound, and don't ship anything without insurance! Luckily neither of the two tables were particularly expensive, but if something happened to the likes of the Papa Bear chairs I bought a few weeks ago -- which, due to logistical hassles, aren't being shipped until this week -- I need to have my ass covered.
I'm heading to Utah Wednesday for a family holiday in the mountains, but en route I'm stopping in L.A. for a couple of days. The new Moss store just made its debut there (its first location outside of NYC), plus I want to check out Twentieth and a few places selling items in a similar vein as Kirk. (Oh, I guess haven't mentioned that yet: I decided to name the store Kirk, and I've already bought kirkstore.com for its future Web site.)
I'm heading to Utah Wednesday for a family holiday in the mountains, but en route I'm stopping in L.A. for a couple of days. The new Moss store just made its debut there (its first location outside of NYC), plus I want to check out Twentieth and a few places selling items in a similar vein as Kirk. (Oh, I guess haven't mentioned that yet: I decided to name the store Kirk, and I've already bought kirkstore.com for its future Web site.)
Friday, August 03, 2007
You will notice a new feature to your right: a link to my photo album. Since I'm going to be traveling extensively in the coming months buying various things for my store, I figured I may as well document my far-flung travels. The pics won't be anything professional -- I'm snapping them with my iPhone, which lacks a flash and hi-res capabilities -- but they should be sufficient for blog purposes.
My trip to Mexico City was interesting, albeit occasionally frustrating, but I was very glad to have my friend Clay along. Aside from being an amiable travel companion, he happens to be fluent in Spanish, which was helpful in more situations than I can even count (starting with our driver - this being the D.F., you do not hail cabs on the street unless you don't mind being mugged, so we arranged for one to drive us around most of the weekend). Workwise, I discovered three emerging galleries that would be amenable to me representing their artists stateside; the only problem is that in Mexico City -- being as established of a contemporary art center as, say, Los Angeles, if not NYC or London -- prices aren't cheap, and there wouldn't be much room for profit generation on the pieces I'd be selling. OTOH I confirmed that shipment to the US presents no problems whatsoever, which was great to hear.
Since three days wasn't nearly enough to explore one of the largest cities on the planet, and I didn't have a chance to see even a fraction of the city's galleries -- a difficult task given that we arrived too late Friday to see much, spent much of the day Saturday on a wild-goose chase of sorts (plus most galleries close at 2pm that day), and Mexico essentially shuts down on Sundays, it being a predominantly Catholic country -- I imagine a return visit will be in the cards in the near future. This time I plan on being a little better prepared! I think it'd be a good idea to hire a bilingual art expert who can take me straight to the best galleries instead of trying to hunt them down on my own.
My trip to Mexico City was interesting, albeit occasionally frustrating, but I was very glad to have my friend Clay along. Aside from being an amiable travel companion, he happens to be fluent in Spanish, which was helpful in more situations than I can even count (starting with our driver - this being the D.F., you do not hail cabs on the street unless you don't mind being mugged, so we arranged for one to drive us around most of the weekend). Workwise, I discovered three emerging galleries that would be amenable to me representing their artists stateside; the only problem is that in Mexico City -- being as established of a contemporary art center as, say, Los Angeles, if not NYC or London -- prices aren't cheap, and there wouldn't be much room for profit generation on the pieces I'd be selling. OTOH I confirmed that shipment to the US presents no problems whatsoever, which was great to hear.
Since three days wasn't nearly enough to explore one of the largest cities on the planet, and I didn't have a chance to see even a fraction of the city's galleries -- a difficult task given that we arrived too late Friday to see much, spent much of the day Saturday on a wild-goose chase of sorts (plus most galleries close at 2pm that day), and Mexico essentially shuts down on Sundays, it being a predominantly Catholic country -- I imagine a return visit will be in the cards in the near future. This time I plan on being a little better prepared! I think it'd be a good idea to hire a bilingual art expert who can take me straight to the best galleries instead of trying to hunt them down on my own.