Mar 11, 2010
Where Pottery Barn gets its ideas
It was with a song in my heart that I read this morning’s Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Of course, it helps that the sun is shining, the birds are singing, spring is on the way down here in Texas (I’m sure it shall be coming your way soon, too!) and we’re leaving on vacation next week.
For the last 30 years, this coming weekend has been one of my favorite weekends all year. It’s the weekend of the Quilter’s Guild of Dallas Quilt Celebration and Dolly Johnson’s Antique & Art Show. Oh, how to decide when to go and how much time to spend at each!
My love of quilting is actually rooted in my love of antiques. Unlike many of you, my mother and grandmothers didn’t quilt, they knitted, crocheted and did many other 60s crafts which are now becoming more popular again. However, one grandmother did own an antique store. She lived in a then 100-year-old log cabin in a small town in southern Michigan and she had what my image of a good antique shop should be. To this day if I walk in an antique shop and the rare one smells like Nanas, I know it’s a good one.
When Jim and I were first married, 30 years ago, I opened my own antique shop. It was here that I began to buy, collect and sell antique quilts. As I watched the prices rise in the mere two years I owned the shop and being a long-time sewer, I learned to quilt — then you can sort of say the rest was destiny.
Dolly Johnson started Dolly Johnson’s Antique & Art Show show nearly 50 years ago, and I knew it was a real compliment that she invited me to exhibit my first year in business. It was a pretty exclusive group back then. Dolly passed away many years ago and her daughter has been running the show, just like it had been for years past. But last year, as reported in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram this morning, former Presbyterian minister Jan Orr-Harter purchased the show from Dolly’s daughter.
The Star-Telegram article by John Austn detailed some of the changes taking place. With more diverse dealers, moving away from strictly Americana, they have relocated the show to a larger venue, including a cash bar Happy Hour on Friday evening. There will be live music and celebrity bloggers during set-up to build excitment. I find these moves interesting. Many industries or entities are looking for ways to attract a new younger audience — symphonies, churches, quilting and now, even antiquing.
Dolly’s Johnson’s is letting its hair down. The look will be something more of an eclectic mix from the pages of Dwell magazine. Orr-Harter said in the Star-Telegram article “I’ve got great people coming. This is very cutting edge. Every 47 years or so things need to evolve. I think anyone who comes to this show, and isn’t 80 or 90, will find it invigorating.” That’s because, Orr-Harter continues, “this is what the Pottery Barn copies. We have the originals.” I love this line!
Jennifer Brock, a dealer from Houston, said she has had a great January and February. Andrew Church a dealer from San Antonio said he has had a wonderful winter. “People are not going to stop making themselves happy,” he said in the article. (Another great line!) Shelley Weidner, a Bulverde, Texas, dealer, said she thinks people will be in awe at the changes and merchandise. She is selling a group of industrial tubes used in silk screening at the now-closed Mission Valley Textile mill (remember them?). “Our whole industry needs a breath of fresh air,” Weidner said. Okay, does this sounds familiar?
The Star-Telegram also emphasizes “going green with antiques.” Quilting and antiquing — two original recycling efforts! Read the entire article at www.star-telegram.com. I hope these thoughts inspire you to keep shaking things up at your place.
Along these same lines have you all seen new magazines called Flea Market Style from Country Decorating Ideas (Harris Publications, Inc.) and Cottage Style from Meredith Corporation (on newstands now)? Both are beautiful special interest issues using antiques and flea market finds in contemporary ways. Remember your customers are reading these, and you should be too. If nothing else, there are a lot of display ideas in these pages, and you can have fun searching for props while you are perking up your shop.
Now where should I go first — Dolly Johnson Antique & Art Show or Dallas Quilt Celebration? Oh, the decisions!
Just a note: I am getting the hang of this blogging thing. There are so many ideas that occur to me in between each bi-monthly issue of American Quilt Retailer. “Missing Pieces” is just the place to share them with you. Be sure to sign up at the top, right of the page to receive a notice whenever I have a new posting.
