NEW YORK CITY — US Antique Shows has announced the March and November editions of the Pier Antique Show have been cancelled for this year, saying only 20 percent of dealers had committed in advance to the spring show after last November’s show wrapped up.
“…A small group of dedicated dealers were willing to contract space months in advance while the overwhelming majority waited until only a few weeks before the show to commit to participating. This late commitment by exhibitors hindered our ability to plan marketing and operational efforts and, frankly, left us worried that we would not have enough dealers to host a successful show,” vice president and group show director Dan Darby said in a letter to Pier dealers sent out this month.
The popular shows, in their heyday in the 1980s under the management of Stella Shows, were once known as the “Triple Pier Show” and had staggered openings for three piers. “At this time, we do not have any indication that the ten-year trend – that has seen the Pier Antique Shows reduced from a two-weekend, three-location event to its current two-day run at Pier 94 – will turn around. Further, cancellations by other NYC show producers echo the conclusion that research is needed to determine exactly what type of event will succeed in the dramatically changed tri-state marketplace,” added Darby.
A US Antique Shows spokesperson indicated they would retain ownership of the show and hoped to find a way to relaunch a show that would work in the New York City market even as the antiques show model is rapidly moving in new directions.
US Antique Shows has two other New York jewelry shows: Lueur, which will run March 13–15 and October 28–30, at the Javits Center, and the New York Antique Jewelry & Watch Show July 22–25 at the Metropolitan Pavilion. It also runs a jewelry and watch show in Las Vegas in June and the long-running Miami Beach Antique Show, which just took place and which is moving to the Miami-Dade County Fair Expo Center in February 2017.
For more information, www.USAntiqueShows.com.
