Deborah M. D. Kaplan on fri 28 dec 01
Hi All
Yes I am undertaking the analysis of opening a gallery in a small but aff=
luent town in NJ. The Gallery will include paintings, pottery (of course=
), jewelry, fiber arts, handmade furniture, glass, & "photo-collage". I'=
m looking at 2 great buildings, 1st floor, 1100 sq', center of town with =
modest traffic, no gallery like it for miles etc... Is there someone out=
there that can help me estimate sales and perhaps review my expenses wor=
ksheet. I'm finding the expenses part easier than the sales estimate. W=
ould someone be able to share some data on their gallery sales, or averag=
e sales per square foot??.....monthly sales cycle. I have financing for =
3 years of rent & artists willing to let me sell their work on a 50 -50% =
consignment basis (Bless these souls; but I'll work my tail off to sell=
).
Appreciative of any help. Thanks!
Debbie
william schran on fri 28 dec 01
Debbie - Good luck with your gallery endeavor. Wife & I (she did most
of day to day stuff) had gallery for 10 years. Started with 500 sq.
ft. space, all consignment (60/40), gross sales $17,000 the first
year. Grew & learned about business over time. Ended with 1500 sq.
ft. space, line of credit for purchasing wholesale fine crafts, only
consigned "fine" art (painting, drawing, etc.) and gross sales of
$125,000. Never did very much marketing (biggest regret), had small
devoted client base, had growth every year. Just simply burned out
with long hours, worry about paying bills (always made certain
artists were paid first) and realized the need to do more advertising
- meaning deeper in debt.
I teach full time, wife ran gallery. I was at gallery when not
teaching to hang shows, do portfolio reviews, build display equipment
(saved money building our own). Got tired of 2 full time jobs, not
enough time in my own studio. We agreed to close gallery while we
were ahead (well, we still had line of credit to pay off).
We were glad we did it, would probably do it again given the right
circumstances. My advice: take a class in running a small business
from a local community college. Write a business plan and get a line
of credit. Do marketing. Join local business organization. Buy a very
big bottle of your favorite pain reliever.
Bill
Marsh Pottery on fri 28 dec 01
Good Luck with your Gallery. I think I'd like to be included in it.
Please send your e-address for further discussion. Thanks,
Marsha
Marsh Pottery Studio
http://www.marshpottery.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Deborah M. D. Kaplan"
To:
Sent: Friday, December 28, 2001 7:57 AM
Subject: Gallery Opening (I hope!) - Questions - help
Hi All
Yes I am undertaking the analysis of opening a gallery in a small but
affluent town in NJ. The Gallery will include paintings, pottery (of
course), jewelry, fiber arts, handmade furniture, glass, & "photo-collage".
I'm looking at 2 great buildings, 1st floor, 1100 sq', center of town with
modest traffic, no gallery like it for miles etc... Is there someone out
there that can help me estimate sales and perhaps review my expenses
worksheet. I'm finding the expenses part easier than the sales estimate.
Would someone be able to share some data on their gallery sales, or average
sales per square foot??.....monthly sales cycle. I have financing for 3
years of rent & artists willing to let me sell their work on a 50 -50%
consignment basis (Bless these souls; but I'll work my tail off to sell).
Appreciative of any help. Thanks!
Debbie
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MartinDEpstein on fri 28 dec 01
Dear Debbie, I am a potter and my husband owns a business in NJ. I
have no experience with galleries but am interested in your gallery. 50/=
50
consignment seems to be the norm in these parts. If I were opening a
gallery I would do a lot of talking to as many people as possible who liv=
e
and own businesses in the area. Learn about parking, traffic patterns,
etc. I think public relations would be at the top of the list. You woul=
d
need to have lists of artists and lists of potential customers and do
mailings. I am no expert but I would think these things would be more
important than the square footage. With some flair and creativity you
could make the space work for you. Good luck Francine Epstein =
martindepstein@compuserve.com
Terrance Lazaroff on fri 28 dec 01
----- Original Message -----
From: "MartinDEpstein"
To:
Sent: Friday, December 28, 2001 11:45 AM
Subject: Gallery Opening (I hope!) - Questions - help
Dear Debbie, I am a potter and my husband owns a business in NJ. I
have no experience with galleries but am interested in your gallery. 50/50
consignment seems to be the norm in these parts. If I were opening a
gallery I would do a lot of talking to as many people as possible who live
and own businesses in the area. Learn about parking, traffic patterns,
etc. I think public relations would be at the top of the list. You would
need to have lists of artists and lists of potential customers and do
mailings. I am no expert but I would think these things would be more
important than the square footage. With some flair and creativity you
could make the space work for you. Good luck Francine Epstein
martindepstein@compuserve.com
____________________________________________________________________________
__
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
Terrance Lazaroff on fri 28 dec 01
Francine;
I find it difficult to believe that consignment in your area is 50/50 as a
norm. This is the figure that is usually attached to wholesale buying. If
the potters in your area are living with this, I suggest they rethink their
priorities.
I realise that times are tough for some galleries and boutiques but we
should be careful about taking on their debt load. I would advise any new
potter to hold to the 64/40 rate for consignment so that they can keep their
requested retail price low. If the gallery states that they must charge
50/50 in order to survive then tell them that the rate will cause the retail
price to go up and could thus reduce sales.
Also remember when you consign you are responsible to look after your
inventory lists. The more consingment stores the more paper work, less
potting. You end up working for the boutique.
If the boutiques insist on the 50/50 then be sure you increase your retail
price accordingly.
A requirement to earn $10.00 at 60/40 would mean a retail price of $16.67.
A requiremnt to earn 10$ at 50/50 would set the retail price at 20.00.
Use this formula when talking to the boutique.
If the boutique thinks $20.00 is to high then go elsewhere.
Terrance
Marie Gibbons on sat 29 dec 01
In a message dated 12/28/01 5:58:44 PM Pacific Standard Time,
zalt57@VIDEOTRON.CA writes:
> I find it difficult to believe that consignment in your area is 50/50 as a
> norm. This is the figure that is usually attached to wholesale buying. If
> the potters in your area are living with this, I suggest they rethink their
> priorities.
>
Unfortunately, at least here in Colorado 50/50 is the common number...
occassionally you find a 60/40 and those are wonderful to run into, but most
often the standard is 50/50. I have come to terms with it as long as the
gallery is working for their 50%. showing your work well, knowledgeable
about you and your work, keeps good hours, does what they say they will do,
promotes business to their shop... simple things, but you would be suprised
how many don't do these things.
marie gibbons
www.oooladies.com
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