Saturday, April 26, 2008
Greetings from an unexpectedly chilly Mexico City. (The forecast highs for this weekend, as of mid-week, were around 90; right now it's 65, and I'm stuck here with a subtropical wardrobe.) The FEMACO art fair turned out to be a disappointment, alas. I was assuming it'd focus much more specifically on local and national galleries, but probably 80% of the exhibitors were non-Mexican and non-Latin (lots of German, Dutch and Italian exhibitors, for instance), and of the locals who had a presence there, I'd either already established contacts with them my last time here with Clay, or they're the big kahunas with six-figure artworks by international superstars who show at Miami Basel and the Armory Show and the like and are, thus, way out of my league. The fair was great from just an observation standpoint, however - far more laid-back than the jampacked likes of Miami Basel - but even the stuff from the "emerging" galleries was priced in the high-four-figure range, so I'm finding it hard to rationalize pushing to sell it in my store, even on consignment. Works of equivalent quality in Argentina would be about 1/5th the price.
The trip yielded at least a few leads -- though, once again, I was handicapped by my inability to speak Spanish, and I'm glad Spanish-fluent Clay is coming with me down to Argentina for arteBA next month -- but it definitely provided a much-needed getaway after the past week's occurrences in Austin. I already posted about my lease renegotiation, but I didn't yet mention that I received the first bids for finishing out my space about an hour afterwards. It'd be an understatement to say I felt sucker-punched; for a little while there I considered throwing in the towel entirely. I'm not going to comment on specific figures, but suffice it to say it will cost vastly more than I originally figured to build it out, even with a basic layout and few "frills" aside from a glass-curtain-wall storefront and cool canopy, to the extent that I'm going to have to seek out additional financing to complete the project. I don't anticipate a problem there, but I also don't relish the idea of putting myself deeply into hock to get this thing going, and to be perfectly frank, if I'd known a year ago when I first started planning the project that it'd cost this much and that the American economy would go down the shitter so quickly, I would have seriously reconsidered the whole idea. I passed the point of no return long ago, however, so I have to do whatever it takes to get this thing launched, even if it includes sacrificing my cool storefront and some of the stuff I'd originally planned to sell.
Back to Austin tomorrow, and btw I managed to arrange a sidetrip this Thursday to see that Parsons thesis show I mentioned.
The trip yielded at least a few leads -- though, once again, I was handicapped by my inability to speak Spanish, and I'm glad Spanish-fluent Clay is coming with me down to Argentina for arteBA next month -- but it definitely provided a much-needed getaway after the past week's occurrences in Austin. I already posted about my lease renegotiation, but I didn't yet mention that I received the first bids for finishing out my space about an hour afterwards. It'd be an understatement to say I felt sucker-punched; for a little while there I considered throwing in the towel entirely. I'm not going to comment on specific figures, but suffice it to say it will cost vastly more than I originally figured to build it out, even with a basic layout and few "frills" aside from a glass-curtain-wall storefront and cool canopy, to the extent that I'm going to have to seek out additional financing to complete the project. I don't anticipate a problem there, but I also don't relish the idea of putting myself deeply into hock to get this thing going, and to be perfectly frank, if I'd known a year ago when I first started planning the project that it'd cost this much and that the American economy would go down the shitter so quickly, I would have seriously reconsidered the whole idea. I passed the point of no return long ago, however, so I have to do whatever it takes to get this thing launched, even if it includes sacrificing my cool storefront and some of the stuff I'd originally planned to sell.
Back to Austin tomorrow, and btw I managed to arrange a sidetrip this Thursday to see that Parsons thesis show I mentioned.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Well, it's been a nightmare of a week hashing out an update to my lease, but it's been successfully renegotiated. Better still, my subcontractor bids are in, and I can finally announce an official launch date (one unlikely to change): July 26. Mark your calendars!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Huh. Just received an invite to the opening reception for the Parsons MFA Fine Arts Thesis Show a week from Thursday. I know every art gallery out there, big and small, is constantly on the hunt for the Next Great Artist, but the most interesting thing of all about the invite e-mail was the cc list: it went out to just about every important gallerist in New York (Gagosian, Jeffrey Deitch, Marianne Boesky, Leo Koenig, Lehmann Maupin, Matthew Marks, you name it) and to MoMA and the New Museum AND to Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips de Pury.
I'm supposed to head up to Kentucky for the Derby next Friday, but I may have to make a little detour to check this out.
I'm supposed to head up to Kentucky for the Derby next Friday, but I may have to make a little detour to check this out.
Last Monday, after a very pleasant weekend attending my baby brother's christening, I arrived home late at night to discover a FedEx envelope left on my doorstep. In it was a letter from AMLI's attorney, in essence stating that I'm in default of my lease and need to immediately consent to a lease amendment with strictly defined construction-completion and store-launch dates in order to avoid the lease being terminated entirely. Not the best way to start my week.
This all having come with no warning whatsoever, I fired off a salvo to AMLI's higher-ups, pointing out the futility of playing hardball considering that a final set of building plans had been sent to them the very day their attorney sent the FedExed letter, and that a large reason for the delay was due to the extended amount of time it took the architectural firm they recommended to complete their work. I also pointed out that AMLI might want to be a little more proactive in promoting positive landlord-tenant relationships given the myriad recent problems they've experienced on that front. I understand why AMLI's getting antsy -- it's now been a full five months since I signed my lease; St. Bernard Sports must be starting to freak out that there still aren't any other retail businesses in the building (let's just say they can't be getting much foot traffic, and I'm far from the only one wondering whether a high-end sportswear store largely devoted to ski and snowboard equipment makes sense in downtown Austin); and from the looks of it, the apartments above my space remain mostly empty at a time when several other high-rise luxury apartment buildings are about to come online downtown -- but I just don't think it was necessary to bring lawyers and threats of lease termination into the matter, given that we're so close to getting construction actually going.
There's been very little I could personally do over the past three months to speed up the process -- that's where the architect's delays kicked in -- but I will admit to two rookie errors earlier on: I should have used a different, less "corporate" architect, and I should have tasked said architect with the entire job of designing the interior space and developing all the necessary drawings for it. I love Tracey to death, but the fact that we didn't get a space-layout plan to the architects (mainly due to both of our vacations over Christmas and New Year's and our mutually busy schedules) until nearly two months after my lease signing just killed us, and it only got worse from there. (Another lesson learned: don't sign a lease two days before Thanksgiving. Getting shit done over the holidays is difficult at best.)
So anyway, I have to sign this lease amendment by 5pm tomorrow (yes, of course I'm having my attorney go over it first - she's already submitted a suggested revision) and start paying rent on July 1. The good news is that my subcontractors' bids are due today, so we should be able to accurately estimate a completion and launch date before I sign the paperwork (both of which will most likely be in July).
This all having come with no warning whatsoever, I fired off a salvo to AMLI's higher-ups, pointing out the futility of playing hardball considering that a final set of building plans had been sent to them the very day their attorney sent the FedExed letter, and that a large reason for the delay was due to the extended amount of time it took the architectural firm they recommended to complete their work. I also pointed out that AMLI might want to be a little more proactive in promoting positive landlord-tenant relationships given the myriad recent problems they've experienced on that front. I understand why AMLI's getting antsy -- it's now been a full five months since I signed my lease; St. Bernard Sports must be starting to freak out that there still aren't any other retail businesses in the building (let's just say they can't be getting much foot traffic, and I'm far from the only one wondering whether a high-end sportswear store largely devoted to ski and snowboard equipment makes sense in downtown Austin); and from the looks of it, the apartments above my space remain mostly empty at a time when several other high-rise luxury apartment buildings are about to come online downtown -- but I just don't think it was necessary to bring lawyers and threats of lease termination into the matter, given that we're so close to getting construction actually going.
There's been very little I could personally do over the past three months to speed up the process -- that's where the architect's delays kicked in -- but I will admit to two rookie errors earlier on: I should have used a different, less "corporate" architect, and I should have tasked said architect with the entire job of designing the interior space and developing all the necessary drawings for it. I love Tracey to death, but the fact that we didn't get a space-layout plan to the architects (mainly due to both of our vacations over Christmas and New Year's and our mutually busy schedules) until nearly two months after my lease signing just killed us, and it only got worse from there. (Another lesson learned: don't sign a lease two days before Thanksgiving. Getting shit done over the holidays is difficult at best.)
So anyway, I have to sign this lease amendment by 5pm tomorrow (yes, of course I'm having my attorney go over it first - she's already submitted a suggested revision) and start paying rent on July 1. The good news is that my subcontractors' bids are due today, so we should be able to accurately estimate a completion and launch date before I sign the paperwork (both of which will most likely be in July).
Friday, April 04, 2008
At loooooooong last, the store drawings are done! PSP hand-delivered a copy a couple of days ago, and having gone over them I have much more of an appreciation of the level of detail required to produce architectural renderings. (I also received their final bill yesterday. Ooof. That's all out of my pocket, too; my finish-out allowance doesn't include design expenses.)
What's next? Structura, my contractor, will soon begin the process of obtaining bids from three separate subs on it. They'll make a recommendation of one of the three once they're in, but the final decision is up to me (and it won't necessarily be the one that comes in the lowest - I'm looking for quality workmanship, not the cheapest bid). Once construction starts, we're looking at a 45-day build-out time and then a two-week move-in period, so depending on how quickly AMLI approves my plans and we select a contractor, we're looking at a launch date sometime in June (assuming no construction delays).
In the interim, I've decided to cancel my plans to attend the Milan Furniture Fair in two weeks, much as I'd love to go. It's partially because the next 2-3 weeks are a pretty critical time in terms of ordering everything I'll need for the store (and getting it here in time for its debut), both in terms of interior decor and pieces I'll be selling, but also because Milan's hotel rates that week are nothing short of obscene. They literally quintuple the week of the fair, as if they weren't already bad enough given the weak dollar. Particularly given that a lot of its wares will also appear at NYC's ICFF next month (and at the next Maison et Objet fair in Paris this September), I just can't rationalize paying, say, $800/night for a rundown Hilton, to use an actual example.
What's next? Structura, my contractor, will soon begin the process of obtaining bids from three separate subs on it. They'll make a recommendation of one of the three once they're in, but the final decision is up to me (and it won't necessarily be the one that comes in the lowest - I'm looking for quality workmanship, not the cheapest bid). Once construction starts, we're looking at a 45-day build-out time and then a two-week move-in period, so depending on how quickly AMLI approves my plans and we select a contractor, we're looking at a launch date sometime in June (assuming no construction delays).
In the interim, I've decided to cancel my plans to attend the Milan Furniture Fair in two weeks, much as I'd love to go. It's partially because the next 2-3 weeks are a pretty critical time in terms of ordering everything I'll need for the store (and getting it here in time for its debut), both in terms of interior decor and pieces I'll be selling, but also because Milan's hotel rates that week are nothing short of obscene. They literally quintuple the week of the fair, as if they weren't already bad enough given the weak dollar. Particularly given that a lot of its wares will also appear at NYC's ICFF next month (and at the next Maison et Objet fair in Paris this September), I just can't rationalize paying, say, $800/night for a rundown Hilton, to use an actual example.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Store delay #1,742: I'm way over Austin's allowable energy budget! The city passed a set of new regulations in '06 strictly limiting the overall amount of power a retail business can consume, and my lighting plan as it stands now is over double their limit for a space my store's size. I'm frankly a little pissed off about this one, if only because it's something I think either PSP and/or Tracey should have made me aware of in advance, but we're in the process of developing a workaround. The issue is that the maximum wattage of the fixtures we're planning to use 30-watt bulbs in is 150 watts, and the city has to calculate estimated energy usage based on the maximum, not what we'll in reality be using. The workaround is, thus, using 30-watt-max fixtures, but those may not be readily available, at least for the purpose we need (lighting art), so we may to make some cutbacks.
Just got back from a relatively quick trip to NYC for the Armory/SCOPE/PULSE art fairs. I'd say the trip was a moderate success, but not as much of one as I'd like since all three shows were so heavily populated with European galleries (and unfortunately they also had all the coolest art). I still don't think there's much point in pursuing European art, largely because the strong euro has made it so astoundingly expensive (never mind the logistics of shipping to and fro), but I did make some contacts with an interesting Brazilian gallery and a few Stateside ones.
The one advantage to my store launching so late is that it allows me to attend both Mexico City's MACO (recently rechristened FEMACO, short for Feria México Arte Contemporáneo) fair, which starts in three weeks, and more importantly arteBA. Since I should also have enough time to import art from Argentina following the fair and before the store launches, it also negates the need for me to take an additional trip to Buenos Aires this spring.
Just got back from a relatively quick trip to NYC for the Armory/SCOPE/PULSE art fairs. I'd say the trip was a moderate success, but not as much of one as I'd like since all three shows were so heavily populated with European galleries (and unfortunately they also had all the coolest art). I still don't think there's much point in pursuing European art, largely because the strong euro has made it so astoundingly expensive (never mind the logistics of shipping to and fro), but I did make some contacts with an interesting Brazilian gallery and a few Stateside ones.
The one advantage to my store launching so late is that it allows me to attend both Mexico City's MACO (recently rechristened FEMACO, short for Feria México Arte Contemporáneo) fair, which starts in three weeks, and more importantly arteBA. Since I should also have enough time to import art from Argentina following the fair and before the store launches, it also negates the need for me to take an additional trip to Buenos Aires this spring.