From a consumer perspective.....
From a consumer perspective...
I think the reproductions seem ok at first. But after a decade or so they make what was originally rare common and I don't want it anymore.
I still want something with miles on it and history. But I also want quality. That's forced me to move to higher ends of the market where the repops aren't.
good advice Keewee
(Even if it wasn't meant as advice, it should be)
This is about LIVING with things for a long time. Sure there is the immediate hit, but then there is the rest of your life. Stuff has to stay meaningful and last. And a good part of that ability to last is what you speak of. The kind of character that comes with age, functional use, and originality.
In some ways, it's similar to what is required of a painting to be "art". Once the attractive manipulation of graphics and colors and textures are digested, does the piece stay "alive" day after day? Year after year? Or does it begin to lose something and slowly fall apart and become uninteresting after awhile.
I know some say its just a practical matter, and knockoffs have their purpose, but more often than not, with a little patience you CAN find the real thing at reasonable price.
And as a bonus, your stuff will also hold its value (if you didn't overpay in the first place). As you said, education is the key. The more one learns, the easier it is to spot a great deal on whatever you are obsessing over.
I like to think that over half of all the "knockoff fans" out there will one day make that same transition that you say happened for you at some point.
Maybe I am being too optimistic.
In the home,
doesn't the "quality vs quantity" mantra apply, as anywhere else in life ?
How many chairs do you need ? Are you a museum/warehouse, or a dweller ?
Keep that great lounge chair you got, years ago -- until it's time for a change, and something better comes along ? The same with the dining table, the kitchen table, the chairs, the cases, the beds ? The more you crave change, the more frequently you trade out -- but you don't try to keep it all !
Oh.
Dwellers?
Are we talking about normal people?
I admit it. I'm a museum/warehouse. No room left, but much more fun. I sure as heck don't NEED another LTR or MAX.
I do use most everything, but it has to be at least as good as a good sculpture, just in case I don't. I rotate things, and they keep feeling new again.
I'm pretty austere about most of the other indulgences in life.
Eames Head, As Samantha sai...
Eames Head,
As Samantha said to her hot young boyfriend in Sex And The City..."first the gays, then the girls, then the industry." In other words, remember that small vintage retailers created the mid century market and demand for Crate and Barrel, West Elm and others. Not the other way around.
There are plenty of reasons for people to buy real MCM. Intrinsic value is one reason. Quality and value is another. A well made case piece from the 60's is less expensive in price and better quality than anything a customer is going to get from Crate and Barrel. Third, Crate and Barrel can only create a cookie cutter, rooms to go sort of look. Vintage retailers can help people create a layered, sophisticated, curated home.
Right now vintage retailers need to think about catering to people in their 30's. They are the ones buying homes and decorating for the first time and I think they are definitely more mod than mid.
I'm not sure the mcm look is going to continue to be the darling of the next generation. I'm thinking maybe 20 year olds are going to move on to something else. But as I said before...nothing lasts forever. The death for any dealer is to just get lazy and stick with what they've known and assume people are going to love it forever. Don't stay in anything too long.
MCM has a ways to go-at least until we play out the 70's with 30 year olds. But when I see auction houses that made their name selling mid century deliberately but slowly moving out of that market into more art and design...I take it as a sign that there is a market slow down. And I don't want to scare people. I do think that there is plenty of opportunity to create markets with customers. That's the big advantage bricks and mortar stores have over on-line retailers. But it's going to take a bit of work. I think the days of just picking and flipping are going to be fewer and far between and there is this other layer where you've got to kind of help people decorate as well. Give them the a-ha moment in your store.
is it possible
that the auction houses simply don't receive any MCM to sell lately?
I mean its not like THEY decide what comes to them to be sold at auction. It is individual collectors and others who need or want to sell something.
Perhaps the inflow of MCM items has slowed so much that there is simply not enough inventory?
Unless they are turning away pieces and counseling their clients that it is not a good time to sell (and that might indeed be the case for all I know) I don't see how they can control what comes in their doors.
It's certainly got to be hard to meet the high expectations of profit and volume that were set in the last several years. For both sellers AND buyers. In any market, a "breather" is a necessary and important element.
Reading all of these comments, I am struck by how a dealer's view of the marketplace can differ so vastly from that of a collector. (I know most dealers are both though-- Im just talking about the emphasis on needing to move product at a profit)
I keep seeing demand for MCM on places like ebay, but some dealers make it sound like the whole game has ended. Im having trouble connecting THOSE dots.
To me, only the end of easily finding cheap product has arrived.
Thanks keewee.
Eames Head-Regarding the au...
Eames Head-
Regarding the auction house...I don't think so. I recently sent them photos of pristine high end items from a clients home. Most all were pieces they'd sold in the past. Pretty good stuff. I got the standard cookie cutter response..."not a good fit right now". The auction results for their July auction were not good. Stuff going at 25-30% of estimate. I have heard that the owners wife is a gallery owner which is why they are moving more towards art and design. We've already got Sotheby's and Christie's for art so don't get that. I guess mcm was just the launching pad for some other plan they had all along.
I don't think mcm is over. I just think that in addition to picking and selling dealers are going to have to offer people the whole package. It's second nature for us to think about design, but the average person does not spend time looking at House and Garden from the 70's. They really don't know how to display a danish bed. Maybe in addition to putting things on the floor you've got to have some photos on the wall of a danish bed with Orla Keiley bedsheets on it so people can see how to bring a danish bed into a modern home. Maybe you've got to pick up a few persian carpets and kilims cheap in your estate sale hunting and put those in front of those gorgeous teak hutches so people can see how well that combo goes together (and hopefully make a couple of bucks on the rugs too). Typically those things aren't what mcm dealers do. They just hope the client gets it. Believe me. They don't. They need books. They need to see it in real life. They need to walk into your store and say "oh I see" rather than just seeing a price tag and thinking to themselves they better not let Grandpa's Weinberg stools go in a garage sale. Ikea has an entire floor of home displays to sell the garbage in boxes. The garbage from boxes sells because people are excited by the home displays upstairs. Good displays, information on the furniture about what it is and how to display it in the home means customers spend more time browsing. The longer they are in your store, the more likely it is that they will buy. That's why Ikea makes it near impossible for anyone to make it out of the store in less than a few hours.
Imho, that is what will keep the market going. I also think it hslps to cultivate relationships with interior designers and learn what people are asking for. Look at all the good work Amy Lau has done convincing high end clients to buy items with intrinsic value in the MCM market rather than the faux Italian or French garbage at some expensive furniture store. But yes...it all comes down to the days of picking and flipping being over. Inventory isn't easily found and is more expensive these days. It's going to take more to get people to buy it at the prices it's commanding.
The market in California an...
The market in California and New York will remain strong for a while because there was more inventory in those places to begin with. But inventory in dwindling everywhere. The 40 year olds that bought it five years ago won't be getting rid of it for a while. People will refine and move up the ladder on the scale of condition and rarity, so we will see people getting rid of things they got at the beginning of their decorating/collecting and acquiring more expensive things. So if you think in terms of your repeat customers "refining" and what they will need, you will find sales there.
Another positive thing for the market is the rebirth of downtowns/high density housing. People are moving into smaller urban spaces. MCM suits that style of residence better than any other. There are A LOT of those "new urban" units going up everywhere. That's a lot of potential customers.
I kind of have this theory that people with money that bought the good MCM to begin with also had enough money to redecorate in the 80's and 90's so their stuff is gone. Baby boomers also redecorated more than their parents. So a lot of the stuff the 60 year olds collected has already been set free so to speak. The less wealthy folks and people who weren't 30 when Martha Stewart became a public name, were our grandparents or great grandparents. Most of them bought American mass modern and it stayed in their home until they died. People from that era are in their 80's now so their stuff might have been set free about five ten years ago when they died or moved into nursing homes. That is what is working against inventory.
The customers are going to be there. But even with increased demand and dwindling inventory, prices can only go so high before people give up and go to C&B. You've got to find that price point for the newbies entering the field. It's a lot of hand holding which many pickers aren't used to.
Keewee...
Nailed it. I think this is sound advice. The majority of people don't 'get' mid-century modern design. The demand is there for certain pieces regardless of how they are displayed but the 'average' pieces need to be displayed in a way that people understand why it's good design/quality. Its important to show the customer what it would look like in their own home. I don't think the goal is to keep people from shopping at big box stores like Ikea (because this is nearly impossible due to taste/budget) but it's to inform enough people on why modern design is a better option. I also think that the market would remain strong if certain items weren't offered as 'mid-century modern'. Lots of poor quality pieces are in the marketplace. Education and quality will keep the market strong.
In the proper sense there is no "MCM market", there is a market for professionally restored items which can be undoubtedly attributed to famous designers and this market is running very good, everything else is of no interest and for ragpickers only.
Short, the whole discussion is superfluous, quality always sells, that's it.
At least in Europe, I have no idea concerning the American market.
I agree
"quality always sells, thats it."
But why are you narrowing it down so much to ONLY "professionally restored" pieces?
If that is your end of the market, thats fine, but to say that is ALL that matters is a bit narrow, don't you think?
What about the bigger picture? Such as vintage original high quality pieces in great condition that are NOT restored?
I would think that for your statement to be true, it would have to depend upon the larger market health and desirability of vintage MCM pieces that had NOT been restored.
Edit: Maybe that was assumed in your statement. I am perhaps taking your words too literally? I have strong feelings about restoration, so I guess you hit a nerve.
I agree with your main point though. It IS simple.
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