Richard Lewis, dmg world media senior vice president, Bill and Kay Puchstein and Jim and Yvonne Tucker jointly announced on December 15 that the long-running West Palm Beach Antiques & Collectibles Show has been sold. The new owners are the Puchsteins, veteran show promoters, and the Tuckers. They will change the name of the show to the West Palm Antiques Festival. The ownership will change effective with the next show, January 2‴.

According to Yvonne Tucker, their 2009 schedule will remain unchanged, including the February 6‸ Annual Spectacular Show, which hosts about 500 dealers. Conducted on the first weekend of each month from November through June, a total of eight shows will be presented in 2009 at the Americraft Expo Center of the South Florida Fairgrounds in West Palm Beach.

Kay Puchstein added, “The four of us will combine all our efforts to make this show one of the finest in America. By using an increased advertising budget targeted toward qualified buyers and our strong geographical cross-marketing for Florida and the states, both dealers and customers will see immediate results.”

The Tuckers and Puchsteins, friends for many years, have also been doing business together for about the past five years, owning and managing antiques show in Florida. They said they believe this venture will be a great way to combine their talents and efforts for the good of the shows.

Lewis, in a telephone interview confirming dmg’s sale, said, “The future of this show is best with local management that can emphasize the Florida market with its network of customers, the dealers and visitors to the shows.” He added, “This allows us to continue to emphasize our Miami Beach Show [January 22′6] and others such as the new show this October in Washington D.C., Las Vegas and plans for Chicago.”

For information, contact West Palm Beach Antiques Festival, Inc at 941-697-7475.