Triple Pier Show Shrinks To Double Pier Show

NEW YORK CITY

:"Never a dull moment in New York City," says Leanne Stella, president and CEO of Stella Show Mgmt Co. After negotiating with the Pier management for a whole year and looking at solutions to keeping the Triple Pier Antiques Show on site during the rebuilding of the piers, a final outcome was reached recently. The Triple Pier Show will only have use of two piers.

Subsequently, for the March 18 and 19 show, only Piers 90 and 92 will be available. Tented and heated cafes are being built outside on the decks in the rear of each of the piers, and storage areas have been walled, painted and lighted in time to squeeze 500 of the waitlisted dealers into two enlarged piers.

"Because a great number of dealers had very fine shows this past November and January, the pressure to accept them for March has been enormous," says Leanne Stella. "It's hard to believe that when most antiques and collectibles events are shrinking, we have to use floor plans with 8-foot-deep booths, give dealers smaller spaces than they want, and squeeze them into every nook and cranny," she said.

"But the redesign with 8-foot-deep spaces and a new rear area created one more aisle and over 90 more spaces on each of the piers. A shallower or smaller booth seemed fairer than eliminating 160 dealers," she said.

Fashion Alley, an important part of the New York fashion scene, will be found on Pier 90 as well as lots of the midcentury modern material. Modern art glass, Art Deco and major modern furniture dealers will be found on Piers 90 and 92.

"We really appreciate how dealers have worked with us to maintain business in New York City with the challenges that the pier construction presented. We may be dealing with a similar situation for the next two or three years," she said.

Added to this year's event is a series of dealer booth talks scheduled for Sunday on all aspects of the pottery market. Dealers will present 20-minute talks on pottery collecting every 20 minutes from 11:30 am to 3 pm. Speakers include David Rago and Suzanne Perrault, Susan Tillipman, Forrest Poston, Bill Sheshko. Ken Foster, Barbara Gerr and Sandy Fowler.

The March 18-19 Pier Show is open Saturday from 9 am to 6 pm and Sunday from 11 am to 6 pm. Admission is $15.

The Piers are located at 12th Avenue at 55th Street. For more information, 212-255-0020 or www.stellashows.com.