This week we'd like to know:

How much time do you plan to dedicate to your collecting interests this summer? Where do you intend to look (shops, malls, flea markets and the like) for your antiques and collectibles?

Post a reply here or in the Antique Trader message boards.

Or you can e-mail us at sandra.sparks@fwmedia.com or mail comments to Antique Trader Inbox, 700 E State St, Iola, WI 54945.



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Question of the Week: What do you think?

What is your perception of the health of the antiques market? Will you earmark your stimulus money to use at antique shows or auctions?

Posts a reply here, or log your response on the antiquetrader.com forum, or e-mail sandra.sparks@fwmedia.com.

As I gear up for spring cleaning this year, I ponder the question:

Do I not pick up items that I'm drawn to because I don't want to part with the money? Or is there something else that's holding me back, like "Where would I put it?"

As our house remodel winds down, as we finish rooms, we fill them with things we've had in storage. There are some things that I've completely forgotten about. In those cases, do I really need those things if I haven't even missed seeing or using them?

Do I have a problem parting with things I haven't used in 2 years? Sometimes. It depends what those things are.

How about you? Are you content leaving treasures in storage? Do you cycle through your items, changing out your decor occasionally to still enjoy those things you have, but don't necessarily have enough room to display all at once?

What's your decorating with antiques strategy?

— Posted by Karen

Antique Trader's Question of the Week:

Do you have a personal connection with antiques in your collection? Do any of them hold special memories? Are they fond reminders of a past time?

Post a reply here and let us know, or post a reply in the Antique Trader message boards Question of the Week thread.

— Posted by Karen

Hello antiques enthusiasts!

We’re planning our issues for 2009, and Antique Trader wants to be YOUR magazine.

What features do you like? What features do you wish would go away? What would you like to see us cover in the future?

Post a reply here or make a post in the Antique Trader message board (click here for the thread).

Or you can drop Sandra Sparks a line at sandra.sparks@fwmedia.com.

We're looking forward to hearing from you!

There’s an ongoing campaign in my community to “Buy Local” – spend your dollars close to home so jobs and businesses can survive and thrive.

I did my best to help the local economy over the holiday season. But in the end, when all was said and done, I spent close to half of my Christmas money shopping online. In some cases, it offered the best deal. In others, it was something I just couldn’t find locally and would have had to gas up the vehicle and travel a ways to get. Online shopping was there to meet those needs.

I had to chuckle when I read Robert Reed’s cover story on mail-order catalogs. How did we manage with so few options for spending our money? I guess we didn’t mind all that much, did we?

After all, it was such a pleasure to stop at the local store and get personal customer service. And those mail-order catalogs were quite the treat when they arrived!

I can recall closely looking at every single page of those “Christmas Wish Books” from Sears, Montgomery Ward and JCPenney, and then starting my own wish list. When I was too young to write to Santa, I’d cut out pictures of probably dozens of toys from those Wish Books, then stuff those clippings in an envelope addressed to the North Pole. If Santa couldn’t find what I needed at Sears, then where else was there?

It’s amazing today how our shopping habits have evolved. It is still a pleasure to shop locally but, for some people, “local” is within the four walls of their home. They can order through a catalog, sure, but maybe they saw an ad on TV or in their local newspaper and are calling a phone number to order the item. Perhaps the antiques shop in the next town has a Web site so they don’t have to brave the winter roads to shop there. Maybe the buyer wants to do some “window shopping” on eBay. So many options!

On the other side of the commerce coin… What are you, the shop and mall owners, auction houses and dealers, doing to capitalize on these options? Are you still relying on just foot traffic to help your business grow? Or have you found other avenues to reach your market?

Today, there are countless options available from mail-order catalogs and newspaper ads to billboards, radio spots, infomercials and Web sites. Are you evolving along with the shopping habits of your customers?

The only way to attract customers and keep them is to give them what they want through the avenue they want it. And always give them the same quality customer service you’d apply if they walked through your front door.

Convenience. Service. Two words to build on for 2009. Best of luck!

Antique Trader would like to know how you reach your customers. What marketing tools have worked best for you?

Drop me a line at robyn.austin@fwmedia.com, post a comment in the forums on our Web site, www.antiquetrader.com, or post a reply here.

Let’s see… This year I want to lose 15 pounds… This year I am going to get organized… This year…

Don’t you just love New Year’s resolutions? Not me. There is always so much to do, so much I want to do, I am never sure where to start.
It seems each January 1st we use the New Year as an opportunity to examine our lives and determine what steps we should take to make them better. This turns into a list, often a lengthy, overzealous one, called resolutions. I wholeheartedly support the notion, but know the reality for many of us is a lack of follow-through and lasting commitment beyond 30, 60 or 90 days.

Maybe the easy route for me this year is to lower my expectations – not resolve to change anything. Trust me, that is a very appealing option. I think what scares me is the word “change.” I deal with so much change the way it is, personally and professionally, do I want to facilitate even more? And what about the risks of trying something different?

Do you think about resolutions for your antiques business? You probably do, but just call them “goals” instead. That’s a good starting point. We should be looking ahead – but must learn from the past.

2008 was a tough year for a lot of us, whether we are shop owners, dealers or collectors. What can we learn from it? Was there something we could have done differently to change the outcome? Do we know people who had a positive year financially? How did they make that happen? Is it something we could try, too?

Sometimes the word “change” is intimidating. Maybe we should use the word “improve” instead. I resolve to improve my business this year … but may have to make some changes to reach my goals. Do I need to exhibit at more shows this year? Less shows? Do I need to add an online component to my business? Or do more with what I have?

A quote that inspires me to action is this: “To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.” What do you want to get in 2009? What are you willing to do to get it?

Antique Trader would like to hear about your New Year’s resolutions for your antiques businesses and collecting activity in 2009.

Drop me a letter, an email at robyn.austin@fwmedia.com, or share your thoughts as a reply here or in our forums at www.antiquetrader.com.

Let’s make 2009 the year we make our resolutions and actually keep them! Happy New Year!