Thursday, November 27, 2008
I said in my last blog entry that it'd been an interesting week; things have only gotten more interesting since. Before I get into all that, however, I'd like to comment on today's NY Times piece (the cover story in this week's ThursdayStyles section) on my fellow Austin retailer, By George. (Disclaimer: although I don't really know Matt and Katy Culmo, the owners, I made an unsolicited offer last year to buy By George's men's store after hearing they were shuttering it in order to expand into higher-end women's attire. Our negotiations never went past the most preliminary stages, but to this day I still miss what was my favorite men's boutique clothing store -- which I say even comparing it to the lofty likes of New York's Opening Ceremony and Odin.)
Kudos to the Culmos for landing such a high-profile piece in the nation's leading newspaper, even if the overall tone regarding the tectonic shifts in the landscape for high-end, "mom-and-pop" retailers is fairly depressing. I've already been asked if I see any parallels to the Culmos' plight versus my own, to which I've responded, quite simply, that it's an apples-and-oranges comparison. Fashion -- unless it's a classic Birkin or vintage Balenciaga -- isn't an investment. Quality vintage modern is. By George, as the article notes, has no means of unloading its inventory in the event it fails to sell, aside from massive markdowns and taking a huge loss, and it has to replace everything with new product on a seasonal basis. On the other hand, Kirk has, in its vintage furniture lines, assets with well-established short- and long-term resale values, and much like oceanfront real estate it will perpetually remain in short supply. Although I predict a few trends presently fashionable in the interior-design world will fade -- top of the list being the "Hollywood Regency" look, which is, in my opinion, too over the top for most areas outside of Southern California and South Florida -- many 20th-century designs are, like a Birkin bag, timeless and will always hold appeal to the particular high-end consumer.
While some of the designs we carry are still in production and sold at DWR and the like, it's the vintage stuff (1970 or earlier) that remains the most coveted, partially because -- pardon the cliche -- they don't make a lot of it like they used to. To use a well-known example, the original Eames Lounge Chair was produced using Brazilian rosewood, but global rosewood stocks were depleted decades ago, so Herman Miller, its manufacturer, switched to walnut for its production probably close to 30 years ago now. (DWR introduced a limited-edition Santos Palisander version last year employing sustainably harvested rosewood, but it's just not the same as the original.) Demand for original rosewood models in good condition, thus, remains strong ... as does that for rosewood anything, but that's a tale for another blog entry.
Anyway ... it's been an interesting couple of weeks because a) we're nearly finished rotating our entire floor selection, and b) we're in the final stages of planning a major event for a high-profile corporate client next week. While I'm sworn to secrecy until after the fact, I'll just say that the event has given me the opportunity to work with and get to know some of Austin's brightest and most talented stars in their respective fields, and it's been a pleasure and honor to get to know a group of such intriguing personalities. Our new floor inventory, as promised, focuses more on recognizable classics such as a Jacobsen Egg chair (in a rather unique upholstery) and a gorgeous set of matching Florence Knoll lounge chairs. We're also adding a number of Vladimir Kagan originals to the floor, as well as one of my favorite acquisitions to date: a matching pair of Milo Baughman rosewood settees (hardwood, not veneer).
I will, however, have to apologize for my blog comment a few weeks ago stating that our Web site would be up and running "in a matter of days." Its launch has been pushed back multiple times for multiple reasons, many of which are my sole fault, but we've worked out the crux of the problem -- determining a creative direction (I finally concluded, pretty simply, that minimalist is best) -- and are on the road to completion. Unfortunately my Web designer is now on holiday overseas for two weeks and only working limited hours in the interim, so I can't make any promises as to completion date.
Kudos to the Culmos for landing such a high-profile piece in the nation's leading newspaper, even if the overall tone regarding the tectonic shifts in the landscape for high-end, "mom-and-pop" retailers is fairly depressing. I've already been asked if I see any parallels to the Culmos' plight versus my own, to which I've responded, quite simply, that it's an apples-and-oranges comparison. Fashion -- unless it's a classic Birkin or vintage Balenciaga -- isn't an investment. Quality vintage modern is. By George, as the article notes, has no means of unloading its inventory in the event it fails to sell, aside from massive markdowns and taking a huge loss, and it has to replace everything with new product on a seasonal basis. On the other hand, Kirk has, in its vintage furniture lines, assets with well-established short- and long-term resale values, and much like oceanfront real estate it will perpetually remain in short supply. Although I predict a few trends presently fashionable in the interior-design world will fade -- top of the list being the "Hollywood Regency" look, which is, in my opinion, too over the top for most areas outside of Southern California and South Florida -- many 20th-century designs are, like a Birkin bag, timeless and will always hold appeal to the particular high-end consumer.
While some of the designs we carry are still in production and sold at DWR and the like, it's the vintage stuff (1970 or earlier) that remains the most coveted, partially because -- pardon the cliche -- they don't make a lot of it like they used to. To use a well-known example, the original Eames Lounge Chair was produced using Brazilian rosewood, but global rosewood stocks were depleted decades ago, so Herman Miller, its manufacturer, switched to walnut for its production probably close to 30 years ago now. (DWR introduced a limited-edition Santos Palisander version last year employing sustainably harvested rosewood, but it's just not the same as the original.) Demand for original rosewood models in good condition, thus, remains strong ... as does that for rosewood anything, but that's a tale for another blog entry.
Anyway ... it's been an interesting couple of weeks because a) we're nearly finished rotating our entire floor selection, and b) we're in the final stages of planning a major event for a high-profile corporate client next week. While I'm sworn to secrecy until after the fact, I'll just say that the event has given me the opportunity to work with and get to know some of Austin's brightest and most talented stars in their respective fields, and it's been a pleasure and honor to get to know a group of such intriguing personalities. Our new floor inventory, as promised, focuses more on recognizable classics such as a Jacobsen Egg chair (in a rather unique upholstery) and a gorgeous set of matching Florence Knoll lounge chairs. We're also adding a number of Vladimir Kagan originals to the floor, as well as one of my favorite acquisitions to date: a matching pair of Milo Baughman rosewood settees (hardwood, not veneer).
I will, however, have to apologize for my blog comment a few weeks ago stating that our Web site would be up and running "in a matter of days." Its launch has been pushed back multiple times for multiple reasons, many of which are my sole fault, but we've worked out the crux of the problem -- determining a creative direction (I finally concluded, pretty simply, that minimalist is best) -- and are on the road to completion. Unfortunately my Web designer is now on holiday overseas for two weeks and only working limited hours in the interim, so I can't make any promises as to completion date.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
This has been, to put it mildly, an interesting week. Last Saturday, while in Kentucky visiting family (a dual birthday celebration of sorts for me and my baby brother Chase), I heard through the grapevine that a Palm Springs vintage dealer was holding an auction of its own for the very first time, conducted simultaneously live from their warehouse and online. I checked out the online preview and ... well, the words "potential motherlode" leapt into my mind, so I immediately booked a trip to check it out in person. (One of the travel tips I've learned over the years is that you can fly into Ontario, an airport in Riverside County about 40 miles east of L.A. (and a little over an hour's drive from Palm Springs), for under $200 r/t from Austin even on as little as one day's notice. Thank you, Southwest and jetBlue!)
I'll preface the rest of this story with a commentary on why the big auction houses -- in the 20th-c. design sphere, that'd be Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips de Pury, Wright and Rago -- have done so well over the years: marketing prowess, plain and simple. They have extensive client lists, spend months putting together print catalogs that are practically art pieces in themselves, and months after that promoting upcoming auctions through various means, offline and on, including mentions in media up to and including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Though none are immune to the effects of the overall economy -- the recent contemporary art sales at Christie's and Sotheby's proved to be spectacular flops, for instance, though 20th-c. design continues to hold up well -- they're nevertheless at the top of their game for very good reason.
The Palm Springs auction, on the other hand, had none of that. The gallery owner had clearly spent months putting together a world-class array of available lots, but he'd done virtually nothing to promote the sale. I suspected even when I attended the preview -- consisting of pieces that were, for the most part, gallery-grade and refinished to the highest possible standard -- that the auction might prove a potential bloodbath for the neophyte auctioneer (by that I mean lots attracting a solitary bidder, or simply not selling at all), and that it'd fly well under the radar of most potential buyers.
Those hunches proved correct. The auction was held today (I was bidding online, not in person; I went to Palm Springs overnight last Tuesday for the preview). I won nearly everything I bid on, with the exception of pieces that had a reserve price. (Note: the auctioneer, frankly, screwed up here. The norm at auctions is for the auctioneer to counter floor bids himself, on behalf of the house, up to the reserve amount. The one in this case did not, and under the boilerplate rules of the auction industry -- which in essence give the auctioneer absolute authority over how an auction is run -- I have no form of recourse.) Most lots had no bidders, period. Only three or four lots, out of hundreds available, incited bidding wars, though nothing sold for more than the high estimate, to my knowledge. Discretion prevents me from even hinting at some of the prices I paid.
On the one hand, I'm elated to have won some spectacular pieces at what amount to fire-sale prices, including some of the biggest bargains I've seen yet in my years of buying at auction. On the other hand, I feel sorry that the Palm Springs dealer was in so far over his head and made so many first-timer errors on all fronts, and I'm pretty sure this first auction will also be his last.
I'll preface the rest of this story with a commentary on why the big auction houses -- in the 20th-c. design sphere, that'd be Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips de Pury, Wright and Rago -- have done so well over the years: marketing prowess, plain and simple. They have extensive client lists, spend months putting together print catalogs that are practically art pieces in themselves, and months after that promoting upcoming auctions through various means, offline and on, including mentions in media up to and including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Though none are immune to the effects of the overall economy -- the recent contemporary art sales at Christie's and Sotheby's proved to be spectacular flops, for instance, though 20th-c. design continues to hold up well -- they're nevertheless at the top of their game for very good reason.
The Palm Springs auction, on the other hand, had none of that. The gallery owner had clearly spent months putting together a world-class array of available lots, but he'd done virtually nothing to promote the sale. I suspected even when I attended the preview -- consisting of pieces that were, for the most part, gallery-grade and refinished to the highest possible standard -- that the auction might prove a potential bloodbath for the neophyte auctioneer (by that I mean lots attracting a solitary bidder, or simply not selling at all), and that it'd fly well under the radar of most potential buyers.
Those hunches proved correct. The auction was held today (I was bidding online, not in person; I went to Palm Springs overnight last Tuesday for the preview). I won nearly everything I bid on, with the exception of pieces that had a reserve price. (Note: the auctioneer, frankly, screwed up here. The norm at auctions is for the auctioneer to counter floor bids himself, on behalf of the house, up to the reserve amount. The one in this case did not, and under the boilerplate rules of the auction industry -- which in essence give the auctioneer absolute authority over how an auction is run -- I have no form of recourse.) Most lots had no bidders, period. Only three or four lots, out of hundreds available, incited bidding wars, though nothing sold for more than the high estimate, to my knowledge. Discretion prevents me from even hinting at some of the prices I paid.
On the one hand, I'm elated to have won some spectacular pieces at what amount to fire-sale prices, including some of the biggest bargains I've seen yet in my years of buying at auction. On the other hand, I feel sorry that the Palm Springs dealer was in so far over his head and made so many first-timer errors on all fronts, and I'm pretty sure this first auction will also be his last.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Really, Obama's win was the only birthday present I needed this week (my actual b-day is today btw), but I just received another one in the form of a glowing Apartment Therapy review of the gallery. For those of you who don't follow the design blogosphere, Apartment Therapy -- originally called such because it launched in NYC, where nearly everyone but the obscenely wealthy lives in apartments, but since expanded nationwide -- is one of the most prominent ones in the country, and I am honored that they gave the gallery such an amazing write-up. This all came as a complete shock given that I haven't even begun my PR efforts in earnest yet -- I'm doing so next week, and oddly enough Apartment Therapy was at the top of my list of online outlets to contact -- but it was a very pleasant surprise nonetheless.
November is shaping up to be an interesting month at the gallery, to put it mildly. I have to remain mum on the details for now, but although our full Web site is still under construction, we're launching a special microsite early next week to highlight what is unquestionably our most unique product offering to date. We're also launching a portion of our e-store in conjunction with it, so you will be able to buy online at kirkgallery.com in a matter of days (only a small part of our inventory for now, but we'll have the rest up in time for the holiday shopping season). We're also about to make some major changes to our offerings on the floor, in particular a much larger focus on small pieces (most affordably priced) that will make for great Christmas or Hanukkah gifts.
November is shaping up to be an interesting month at the gallery, to put it mildly. I have to remain mum on the details for now, but although our full Web site is still under construction, we're launching a special microsite early next week to highlight what is unquestionably our most unique product offering to date. We're also launching a portion of our e-store in conjunction with it, so you will be able to buy online at kirkgallery.com in a matter of days (only a small part of our inventory for now, but we'll have the rest up in time for the holiday shopping season). We're also about to make some major changes to our offerings on the floor, in particular a much larger focus on small pieces (most affordably priced) that will make for great Christmas or Hanukkah gifts.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
I don't generally wield my blog these days as a weapon in a partisan war, but I can't let tonight's election results go without comment. I held a private party tonight at my gallery to watch the returns, an advantage of having an HDTV and a wine fridge. To my knowledge, there was only one (out of ~40 attendees) McCain supporter present. I'd seen all the pre-election polls, but I had no idea the election would be called so quickly, given the turmoil that ensued in 2000 and 2004. No one who knows me even remotely well doubted who I was rooting for, but I must nevertheless comment on the imminent Morning in America. Eight years of unspeakable oppression and dissolution of innumerble constitutional rights -- over. Stacking the courts with neocons who will undue decades of jurisprudence while claiming it's not the work of "activist courts" -- over.
Good night. And for the first time in quite a while, I look forward to tomorrow.
Good night. And for the first time in quite a while, I look forward to tomorrow.