How often do you sell you in-house artwork?

[Rick Colunga]

As of right now, I'm only commerical but the yearning for a store front is growing in me. I was wondering how much money and effort should I put in art bins full of art. Working in other shops, I never really saw them move too fast. Most people liked to hunt down artwork and bring it in for framing. I know the walls have to have artwork to show what you can do but other than that, I'd rather have a desk and comfortable chairs where clients can look through catalogs. A fresh pot of coffee and free softdrinks might be a nice touch.



I want to always sell my catalog prints and posters at cost plus shipping if a frame order is placed with me. I'm pretty sure I can get the difference back in upselling the frame order. I want to create an enviroment where clients can come in a just hang out and look through catalogs and just relax. If they want some prints, I'll charge them retail and discount the difference when framed. I'd rather discount something that takes a phone call than discount labor and materials. I also don't want to have a large sum of capital just sitting in bins.


Very curious of what works for everyone and if you think this is a good idea. I want to use the walls for limited and original artwork that will not be discounted, only the Anne Geddes type stuff.

 

[Skippy the Bush Kangaroo]

Rick, Artwork here takes about 25% of our sales. The benefits I see in this is that it can use a lot of your scrap by framing and matting minis. It also is a way of displaying what type of work we do by using different designs etc on the work. It also helps when someone is not really sure whether a dark or light mat will help. etc So we have an examples why a wider frame, wider mat, double mat, works well.


But, I did read in the PPFA that framing shops with galleries do less framing, so be a bit beware. We recently have reduced the number of prints on our walls, This has done a few things, we dont have cash tied up in the stock and it has made our shop look a little more upmarket.

Just be careful of the prints you choose to sell. Some of ours have sat here for 2 years, although I have discounted them down to our wholesale price. Prints without frames are our slowest movers. We have a rack out the front with prints and we take them out of the rack, frame it and then replace it with new print. Just to keep the stock moving.

One last thing, just make sure your prices reflect the ambiance. The last thing you need is a perception of being expensive and loosing customers when your profit margin is already slim.

Hope it helps

 

[D_Derbonne]

My experience has been that to sell art you have to promote the art aggressively.
Unless you have lots of capital to purchase and promote it's best not to deal with it.

 

[JbNormandog]

At other shops I worked in the art bins didn't produce that many sales.

When I opened I just have my walls covered and catalogs to shop with, no bins.

This has freed up money to carry upscale gift items that move daily.

I think it all depends on what your comfortable with and what direction you want to go in.

I get a lot of browsers in when they see the gifts through the window and this then gives me face time with them to talk up my framing.

So far has worked great.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

 

[Bob Carter]

Traffic is the mitigator in this case. Without great traffic, it might be difficult to generate turns sufficient to justify the inventory expense.

But, this, like so many other issues, seem to be resolved by 6 or 7 people on the Grumble sharing experiences. They may have no relevance whatsoever, but they seem to be a constant source of illimination.

Rick-Do they same thing that any serious operator would do and get some research to back up your hypothesis. A good start would be the APA 2003 survey

 

[Manny]

Here are my figures for the last 2 years.

Sales:

2003

Pictures 54% (all framed artwork displayed on the wall.

Print 7% (unframed art and Prints)

Cust. Fram. 34% (strictly art and prints brought in form customers)

Misc. 5% (Giftware etc.)

2004

Pictures 28%
Prints 16%
Cust. Fram. 53%
Misc. 3%

Go figure.... who knows.


Marie

 

[Elaine]

We had similar situation.

2003 approx. $40k in original art sales (second year open, framing growing)

2004 approx. $2k in commissioned art sales - very little consigned art sales, but framing was up significantly

2005 focused on framing - sales growing, finding art for customer growing ( they want it x by y and it has to have a specific color to go with decor)

you are not alone...

hope this helps!

Elaine

 

[Bob Carter]

Who Knows?

The Market knows

Do your research

The Wall Decor Industry is exploding and picture framers are being left at the station. There are plenty of reasons.

I may caution anyone in using comparative numbers unless you have a 4-5 year comparative base. Businesses that are only 2, 3 or even 4 years old ought to be showing exponential growth. Trends are best spotted when used comparatively in "mature" businesses.

If you are a PPFA member, there is plenty of research available to understand this situation. If you are not, it is another greatreason to become a member

 

[Manny]

Bob

We have been in business for 12 years and in the first 10 years our picutre sales were always above 50%. I wrote those numbers to show what was happening in this industry in the last couple of years. Dropping to 28% is huge from one year to the other.I know that the chinese pre-made art has taken over the lower end art, that why we keep reenventing ourselves in this industry otherwise we'll get left out in the dust. Believe me I research this industry very day, I make it my mission. I also research other industries because we are all connected in some way. These numbers were to show the interesting trend that was taking place. "Who knows" what will happen next year. I know that we will be ready for it.

Marie

 

[Bob Carter]

Marie-Good for you, at least you keep records. Most do not.

Not trying to be mean-spirited, but if "you know", then what happened to that large a segment of your volume and what did you do to correct it?

Perhaps you would share your research and you might be able to help some of us better understand the dynamics of the marketplace.

But, may I ask if you did anything in 2005 to counter the slide in preframed art? And did your sales increase or decrease in 2004? If it increased or stayed the same, that is a pretty amazing increase in custom framing (at a much higher margin, probably).

I would love to hear a great success story and if you ran any increase in 2004, you have a great story to tell

 

[Kath.ryn]

Marie - I'm curious; how will you "be ready" for what will happen next year? You also mentioned the chinese art that has glutted the market - what has been your response to that?

I second Bob's request - I'd love to hear your story too. Please share.

 

[printmaker]

Originally posted by Bob Carter:
...
The Market knows
Do your research...
The Wall Decor Industry is exploding and picture framers are being left at the station. There are plenty of reasons.
...

Ahhh... so much topic, so little time. Books could be, and probably have already been, written about this.

We've dealt with more frame shops over the years than most (certainly not all!) here. The subject is complex, as is the marketplace and, at the risk of over-simplifying this (as well as stating the obvious), here goes:

Those of us who have been around for a while will remember the "golden years" when mass-produced, "limited edition" reproductions were the darlings of the framing industry. It seemed at the time that anyone could succeed and thrive in this business. Sales of these signed posters were fast and furious and, of course, everone wanted his/her "investment" protected with the finest of framing. But, as they always have and will continue to do so, times and market conditions have changed.

Having said that, there are 2 consistant and reoccurring patterns of failure (even in the "good old days") we've seen in this regard:

1) Dabbling: Rather than committing to a well-thought out market strategy, many shops tend to put a minimal investment (and minimal thought) into "trying" a few of these and a few of those. The "let's give it a shot and see if it works" attitude. Without a well thought out plan of attack, and a "good" range of product, this philosophy is doomed to failure more often than not. In short, even with the right product, one needs a "critical mass" in order to sell; your customer must be able to CHOOSE ("these are all beautiful, but I like THIS one better"...)

2) Poor choice of work: By definition, in every segment of "the market", there is SOMETHING selling. And there's certainly nothing wrong with "creating a market" for something unique to your area rather than trying to grab a tiny market share of a product available at all of your competitors. However, as Bob has said time after time, do your research and know your market. Products which do well elsewhere may simply not sell in your region!

Custom framing is a tough business these days, and it ain't a-gettin' any easier. It sounds like you may already have the right idea (for you!), Rick ...
"I'd rather have a desk and comfortable chairs where clients can look through catalogs. A fresh pot of coffee..."

It's not the answer for everyone, but for you, investing in a few comfy chairs, catalogs, a coffee maker and, perhaps, a computer through which your clients could the answer! It's certainly better than spending $$$'s on inventory, not to mention the cost of valuable retail space trying to move arbitrarily chosen pieces of "wall decor".

And thar she is, Rick...
One more bit of free advice, worth every penny.

Best of luck!

 

[Manny]

Bob

I will try to make this as short as possible.

A few years ago our average Cust. Fram. sale was $350.00 and in 2003 it was $150.00. People were bringing in smaller and fewer pieces of artwork. The large originals and L/E prints were on a huge decline and so were our wall sales. We were working way to hard for $150.00. If you can't beat them join them. So we designed package deals. Just the word deal already sound good. Frame, 2 mats, glass and all concervation. We charted the size range and put a price on the deals. We made up a few small samples for the wall, in our case under the counter (out of wall space). It's like selling pre-mades before they are made. It's quick, the presentation is great, the price is right and we don't have to stand at the designing counter to long. We will allow upgrade on glass for an extra cost but, anything else goes to customize framing for regular price. This is not new to the industry but it is new to us and it has worked. Supply purchases so far this year are up 25%. This is only one thing we are doing different and we continue to experiment with other things. We have never experiences the glory days, they were over when we went into business. We were told we never make it pass the first year never mind three. 12 years later we are still here and seeing businesses desolve for what ever reason it may be.

Kathryn, you want to know how we are getting ready for next year. We are in the middle of negotiating a second lease in a different community with a different concept and new product and energy. Our web site is now finished and should be up by Sept. 1, 2005.

This is not a success story but a survival story. My heart is still in selling high end originals and Cust. Fram. That's what we went into business for, the road just turn in a different direction and we follow it.

Rick, I don't think this helps you at all but I hope it did a little bit.

Marie