Yesterday I went down to the big city (Allentown) for an auction, had some time to kill, and happened by one of the BB's that shall remain nameless (AC M*****). I had never been in one of this guy's store so I stopped in to snoop. I was greeted by a sign at the front that said 50% of complete framing order (frame,glass,fitting, everything).
I wandered back by the framing area and was suprised to see how few frames they offerred (my guess was less than 300) with too many large frames. The corners were cut oddly. The bottoms were cut paralell to the floor, rather than vertical. There were open doors next to the framing counter and I couldn't see anything that looked like a shop, so apprently they do all the work off-site.
When I walked by the framing counter, a customer was working with the design person on a frame. I coldn't hover close enough to hear much but I did hear the price. The art was about an 8x10 drawing, the frame looked like a Nielsen 93 with a single mat and regular glass. After working up the price, the desing person proclammed, " After 50% off your entire order, the price will be $60." I felt like breaking in and saying, "After nothing off, my price is less". I priced it after I got home and my price for the same thing would have been $58.00.
The customer was resistant to the price and started looking at the readymades when I left. I've read all the BB threads here so I wasn't suprised by what I saw.
I wandered back by the framing area and was suprised to see how few frames they offerred (my guess was less than 300) with too many large frames. The corners were cut oddly. The bottoms were cut paralell to the floor, rather than vertical. There were open doors next to the framing counter and I couldn't see anything that looked like a shop, so apprently they do all the work off-site.
When I walked by the framing counter, a customer was working with the design person on a frame. I coldn't hover close enough to hear much but I did hear the price. The art was about an 8x10 drawing, the frame looked like a Nielsen 93 with a single mat and regular glass. After working up the price, the desing person proclammed, " After 50% off your entire order, the price will be $60." I felt like breaking in and saying, "After nothing off, my price is less". I priced it after I got home and my price for the same thing would have been $58.00.
The customer was resistant to the price and started looking at the readymades when I left. I've read all the BB threads here so I wasn't suprised by what I saw.
