A second source has confirmed that the grand-daddy of antiques shows has ceased operations. The Heart of Country Antiques Show in Nashville celebrated its 32nd anniversary this year. A letter received by dealers doesn't provide any details on the "why" and but we've heard a few perspectives and have a call into the show's promoter.
At both the Tailgate-Music Valley Antique Show and the Heart of Country Antiques Show, dealers were finding ways to discount the effect of information explosion. In many cases, the items were so unique that you can hardly describe them in a few words, not to mention to find catalogues for comp. The term “one of the kinds” has gone to a new degree of dimension.
The answer far too often is no. The large number of antiques-related shows on television about antiques are indication antiques are a growing part of the popular lexicon. Yet arriving in Nashville at the start of antiques week, I couldn't find a local who knew it was antiques week. The driver of the hotel shuttle, … Continue reading Do they know its Antiques Week in Nashville?
Synopses: The antiques industry’s biggest crisis is not the shrinking patrons or a depressed economy, it is the industry’s own resistance to any change, in particular, the business is turning down the next generation while lamenting they don’t grow up fast enough. Perhaps, it is time to look at how the classic music industry that … Continue reading The Journey of Antiquing — 9: Can the Antiques Industry Learn from the Classical Music Industry?
Antiques at Music Valley had a totally different feel than the Heart of the Country Show. The State Fairgrounds provides ample yet unassuming space for the show. Neither show would be mistaken by visitors for the shows as high-end as the Winter Antiques Show in which “price upon request” in some cases means “price you … Continue reading The Place to Shop — Antiques at Music Valley
Since the show's beginnings in the early 1980s, the Heart of Country show has been one of the premiere destinations for fans of Americana in the Country. This year dealer Bettianne Sweeney, who promotes her own Americana-themed show the weekend after Thanksgiving in Virginia, was crossing having a booth at the Heart of Country off … Continue reading A Visit to the Grand-daddy of Antiques Shows
Moderating a presentation at the Heart of Country Antiques Show in Nashville, veteran painting, and furniture dealer Woody Straub commented the slump in the current market was actually the third such dramatic decline in his lifetime. If you walked over to a table along a side wall and picked up a complimentary issue of Maine … Continue reading Current Slump in Furniture Prices Not the First
It wasn't too long ago when Antiques Week in Nashville drew perhaps the biggest crowds of any Americana show in the country. As one dealer I spoke to at the Original Miami Beach Antique Show described it, the events were like lightning in a bottle. This year promoters are making some moves to reinvigorate Nashville … Continue reading Into Nashville Antiques Week
Urban Art & Antiques 