You are unlikely to hear the managers of a major upstate New York antique show admit this, but attendance for this major event was the lightest my wife and I have witnessed since attending this event for many years. The weather was picture perfect in the 70 degree range with a beautiful blue sky above. Arriving at 12:30 pm on a Sunday of a three day weekend, we expected to find a line to gain entry into the fairgrounds and a parking spot far from the entrance gate. Such was not the case. There was no line at the gate. We pulled directly in without a wait. Surprisingly, we were directed to park with in a very short distance from the gate of entry. There were only a few people waiting to pay at the window. We noticed the once $7 entry fee had been raised to $9. Upon admittance we found the foot traffic to be the lightest as we have witnessed over the years of attendance. What happened?
Could it have been the $4.25-$4.50 for a gallon of gas that kept downstate folks from making the 125 mile drive to this gorgeous small upstate town? Was it the increase in the admittance fee to $9? I reasoned to my wife that the slowdown we are experiencing in antique or paper shows may be signalling that the economy is worse than what the data indicates from the Department of Labor. Combined with the additional cost of filling up one's gas tank, which leaves much less disposable income in each consumer's wallet/pocketbook, and we have the ingredients for poor attendance and sales at a major antique show. One person's opinion, of course.
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Interestingly, while sitting on a bench to take a rest stop, I overheard two dealers speaking about their sales results. One stated that he only made one sale at $150. The other was disappointed with the days sales number as well. I must confess that I always keep my ears attentive when attending an antique show and hear the dealers discussing their sales for the day.
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