Posted on 09/20/2009 5:11:08 AM PDT by Son House
Nobody’s beating the door down to get into this place,” is how John Willis, an employee at A-Art’s Antiques & Appraisers on Sutter Street in Folsom, describes business during a recession.
He said a key signal of a bottoming of the economy’s decline is consumer spending and it’s very apparent right now.
“The bottom line,” he said, “is people have been without money for so long that if they had something to sell, they’ve already sold it.”
Similar woes are heard from Judy Hansen, manager of the Folsom Mercantile Antique Mall, also in the Folsom Historic District, where more people are bringing in goods to sell than customers coming in to buy.
“We’ve had lots of people bring stuff in, looking for cash,” she said. “Sorry to say, we keep buying whenever we can from people but there’s no rush to buy things from us.”
Hansen tells of people coming by car or truck, “asking us to come out and take a look at what they have, mostly small things. We’ve had people who had to give up their house, some who did have antiques to sell but mostly the antiques are marginal, not much.”
Hansen said home-related business is down, mirroring the housing market’s decline.
“Furniture and antique furniture sales are just down,” Hansen said. “People are not as interested as they were a few years ago. They’re just staying away from buying.”
The mall will be open for the 42nd annual Fall Antique Street Fair coming Sunday, Sept. 20, and they might buy sales space on Sutter Street.
“We sell a little bit of everything and that’s what people are bringing in — jewelry, knickknacks, small pieces of furniture, China, glassware, linens, occasionally toys, some dolls, books, records, old radios, sometimes souvenir kinds of swords. There’s very little in clothing,” she said. “It’s usually less expensive things, under a hundred bucks. They’re trying to make rent or get rid of whatever they can deal.”
But hard times haven’t hit every outlet that buys, as well as sells. This year, for example, business “absolutely” has been positive for Gilbert Aguayo, who for the past 13 years has worked from his Folsom house as owner of Old World Upholstery.
“A lot of people went to look for new furniture and found prices were higher and quality no longer there. A lot of new furniture today is cut out of particle board and some have plastic,” he said.
So far, his business this year is up about 20 percent over a year ago.
The uptick comes from a combination of finances and sentimentality. People want to save money or memories or both.
“Often they learn after shopping for new furniture that what they have is far superior to what they can buy and made of solid hardwood and frames that aren’t cheap,” Aguayo said.
A furniture upholsterer for 60 years, the former butcher apprenticed under an Austrian disciplinarian of the old school.
“That’s why I call my business ‘Old World’, because that’s the kind of work I do,” he said.
Aguayo works alone, with wife Elvira doing the sewing for furniture upholstery repair and replacement.
Because the price of gold has been at its highest levels in U.S. history, striking $1,038 an ounce about a year ago and recently selling in the mid-$900s, trading has been brisk at Placerville Coin & Bullion on Main Street in Placerville.
Gold sold for less than $300 an ounce several years ago.
Price has had more to do with the activity than any effects of the recession, largely because people want to shift their savings and investments from dollars to the safety of gold as a hedge against inflation and a further sinking of the U.S. economy, according to shop owner Jamie Lowman.
“It’s kind of strange because it goes against recession thinking,” Lowman said.
Her shop deals in scrap gold, jewelry, sterling silver, coins, gold bars and dental gold.
She’s sure some of the selling is caused by financial hardship.
“People are buying and selling. They don’t tell me why they’re selling,” she said. “I’m sure some of it is because they need the money.”
A lot of long faces, I doubt many sellers will continue given this long week-end.
Sales have been way down in my retail job. Can’t say where...they troll the net and termination would be next.
“The bottom line,” he said, “is people have been without money for so long that if they had something to sell, they’ve already sold it.”
...what people is this guy talking about? People who buy antiques are usually middle-upper and up. They’re not “without money”. They’re prioritizing.
Sad sign of the times. I think the lack of people buying antiques may also be a sign of consumer desires, not just the recession. Talking with antique shop owners over the last couple of years, they seem to also think the younger crowd just doesn’t want “the old stuff”. There’s an excess of antique items, also, because older folks are downsizing, etc.
You’re right. Even before the downturn, antiques shops were hurting.
Spend 5 minutes on HGTV, and you’ll find out that the trend is toward clean-lined “pottery barn” type furnishings. Antiques are simply out of styple.
....I follow the pre-WW2 shotgun market....prices for vintage double-barreled guns have been declining for a while now...that’s because they’d gotten unrealistically high during the easy credit boom....same as housing.
I was thinking it a time to buy. Sellers were cutting prices right off, they are usually are high, but I got the feeling many were hopeful to break even and doubtful to return. Democrats are doing a great job of ruining America.
HGTV cannot hit up antique stores for ad buys.
Antique, quality furniture is timeless as the the upholstery man spoke, his business is up 20% because modern furniture is cheaply made with crap materials.
though reupholstering an antique is a mistake, still, 20% is 20%.
Yep, for me it’s guitars, sadly turned down a old f hole Harmony yesterday. The coming inflation and lack of return of sellers are probably going to be the next step in unrealistically high prices in the vintage/used market
It is a GREAT time to buy if you’re trying to furnish a house. I only buy antiques for the house, not as a collector, so I can’t say how good the prices are for true collectors.
“What people is this guy talking about”
He is talking about the people of El Dorado Hills California.
In case you have not noticed, the effects of the economy have his California especially hard. Some places have over 40 percent unemployment.
As He is in the business, and has talked to the locals he probably knows what he is talking about.
....what’s the market in D-18 Martins from the 1960s doing these days?
Next generation isn’t into antiques. They want new, trendy, etc. (i.e., marketing works).
Look around next time you go to a show, shop, auction, etc. Not a lot of youngsters.
I suppose the ebay completed auctions would apply for Martins market trends, my budget is more in line with Harmony, Silvertone, and Teisco, though I did see an old Gibson for over 3K, and a 1963 Fender Jaguar for $3900, which obviously seems high at first glance, in these cases, I’d buy new instead too
Thanks for that, as I had used this article being we don’t have one yet on the current Gold Rush days here, but my elected officials are going to get a report, to coin a phrase, “I’m mad”, I see them ruining a great American tradition
“...what people is this guy talking about? People who buy antiques are usually middle-upper and up. They’re not “without money”. They’re prioritizing”
The ones who lost the most are the ones who had it to lose.
Millions did not lose a dime in the stock market. Thousands lost zillions.
It’s difficult to imagine a”rich person” living off a line of credit loan
purchasing an “antique” for investment purposes considering the changes coming in capitol gains taxes and the elimination of tax credits for charity giving....and then there is the 40% tax bracket to consider, just around the corner.....The only people buying “antiques” right now are probably politicians and Acorn managers... posting the purchases under “Office Furniture”.
That's always been the case. Young people have always wanted what was new and hip, but as they mature and develop their tastes they turn to timeless things. My mother mentioned that when she had her first apartment in the early forties she was able to decorate it beautifully with antiques people had de-accessioned during the Depression, but all her friends wanted what was new and up-to-date.
When I got married and we got our first apartment, we wanted what was new, the sort of thing you see in Pottery Barn. Then we grew up, and the present house is filled with English and American antiques, good Persian rugs, art and books, all in the Virginia horse country taste. Even my daughter, who admits that when she gets older she will want a house full of antiques, has her first apartment done in a modern style. She'll mature too.
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