Featured Florence, KY - Antique Mall Closing

Florence Antique Mall closing at the end of July (wcpo.com)

This was one of the antique malls that I'd occasionally frequent although it was a bit of road trip down a very congested stretch of highway. The mall had a good mix of vendors, although it was a bit light on quality furniture and higher end items. It was the 2nd best (in my opinion), 3rd largest antique mall in the greater Cincinnati Area.

Apparently it is closing due to the strip mall it is located in being redeveloped. The owners are older and after searching for alternate location they are throwing in the towel with the hot real estate market making it impossible to find a comparable property. There is an expanding airport/Amazon distribution hub nearby so perhaps that plays into the situation.

This is the 2nd antique mall to fold in the area in the past year due to the lease not being renewed, real estate being more profitable being utilized for other uses. Not sure if the antiques business which has traditionally needed to locate in lower rent, non-prime real estate will continue to suffer losses going forward -- I suspect it might. This antique mall was always busy so it is not like it was declining.

 

Sad, but not the only one by any means. One of the best auctioneers of quality goods in my area is throwing in the towel as well.

 

Going by AuctionZip ads in my area we have apparently lost about half of our auctioneers. I was thinking this would be a good summer for auctions to clear a backlog of estate dispersals but it sure hasn't worked out that way. I'd say there are only 60% of the number of sales that there normally are during summer which should be peak time of the year for auctions.

 

Everything here moved on line and there is stayed. The prices on those get jacked through the roof on anything I'd buy. In my area the tag sales are NOT taking up the slack. Last weekend there were a fair number scattered around, but this weekend? Zilch.

 

Here in Missouri We use to go to two auctions a week of good stuff. Now some of the auction houses are down to 1 0r 2 a month. Most people are going to estate sales which I like better since I don't have to spend all day. Most of the auctions are more like garage sales now.

 

Since WA opened up today (all COVID restrictions eliminated) I went looking at Craig's List and the local Blog Garage Sale forum to see if any were posted for this weekend. There are but not close to me. I suspect it's because of the holiday.

 

My interest in on-line only auctions and auctioneers is becoming very limited. The auctioneers may love them because they get better prices, but there are downsides that will become apparent. Unless the auction is very close to you, you have to make a separate trip to view the merchandise, which can take hours. Who wants to do that? And who wants to buy things without seeing/touching them? Then, if you win something, you have to make another trip to pick up your item, having paid an inflated price, as @evelyb30 noted, not to mention several tanks of gas. Most of these preview and pickup events happen during the week, so that's out for those of us who are employed.

I think there is probably a limit as to how far people will go to do this. Mine is about an hour each way, maybe 1 1/2 hour for something exceptional. Two of my favorite auction houses are farther than that, and I don't like the idea of buying sight-unseen, so I won't be patronizing them anymore. I hope the increase in item prices makes up for the loss of customers like me; I have a feeling some of these distant online buyers will prove to be unreliable or finicky, finally leaving some of these online-only auctioneers worse off than they were before, and without their base of "regulars."

 

The auction house where I work has had little trouble filling up the buildings for both the Tuesday night walk-around & the regular Friday night sale.

In fact, I have thought of you a few times @Ghopper1924 over the past couple of auctions because they have had a couple of pieces of the beautiful furniture style that you really like. I am usually amazed that the pieces go for so little at times. He will often get pieces from the estates from some of the big southern-style homes scattered all around the state.

 

Ghopper needs to go, with a truck!

 

Glad to know you're thinking of me!

South Carolina sounds very different from the Midwest. Full houses and low prices! We do have low prices due to the brown furniture depression like everyone else, but can't usually match the ruling class 18th and 19th century wealth and good taste of the Carolinas. In other words, you don't see any Meeks and Belter parlor sets around here.

To @evelyb30 's point, I do have a friend and savvy dealer who takes a truck to New York every month or two, has excellent taste, and comes back with bargains like @bercrystal is talking about. Lucky me, some of the items you've seen in the tour threads were brought back by him.

Oh, and to follow-up on my screed above: If/when the two auction houses I mentioned go back to in-seat events, then I'll go back. They could have done it by now. Until then.....nada.

 

Bill is still getting lots of sealed bids from folks who are still wary about coming & hanging out. So far I have felt pretty comfortable.

We have had a pretty good crowd the last couple of weeks due to a large contingent of silver jewelry aficianados that came to bid on the HUGE (spread across 4 to 5 card tables both nights) collection of honest to God sterling & turquoise Navaho jewelry that he was selling.

One of the dealer/avid collectors knew the consignor due to some of the pieces he saw in the collection & told me the consignor was dealing with some type of "financial issues" which had forced him to part with most or all of his collection.

The bidding was quite spirited at times but I know so little about this type of stuff I chose to just admire it as I passed it out to the winning bidders.

 

My auctioneer license and surety bond are due for renewal, at 72, I'm seriously thinking of letting it go. With all the new restrictions, it's just not worth the $400 renewal fee. It's easier using all the other buying and selling sites.

 

If you're ready to get out, that $400 could be better saved to buy stuff.