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When Dee Legault and her husband opened their antique store in Old Ottawa South 30 years ago, the market was booming.
Logan Antiques was one of nearly a dozen stores along Bank Street — Ottawa’s “antique alley” — that attracted thousands of buyers each year to its regal 19th century furniture and timeless silverware dining sets.
Now, antique dealers in Ottawa say their carefully curated collections are falling unnoticed as millennials, who prefer brand names and large furniture stores such as Ikea, flood the consumer base. All but three antique stores in Old Ottawa South have since closed.
“It’s true,” said Legault. “Grandmother’s knick-knacks? Forget it. Pretty floral prints and polished teapots? Forget it. Victorian parlour is out … We definitely see a decrease in sales.”
Legault said she opened the store after years of collecting. When her husband passed away a decade ago, and her rent increased so much that it became “scary,” Legault downsized her shop and moved into the Ottawa Antique and Vintage Market with other vendors, at 1179 Bank St.
From there, business only went downhill.
“There are not as many people coming in. We’re always trying to figure out what we need to do. It’s a subject of discussion all the time.”
Peter McGregor, who has been working at Champagne Dit Lambert on Bank Street for 28 years, said the shop closures have been a loss to the street’s identity.
“Antiques were the main draw to (Old Ottawa South). People liked to visit from store to store. The less antique stores you have, the less energy,” he said.
Cheryll Smith, at Antique Hoarders in Ottawa, said her sales have easily dropped by 80 per cent.
“Today’s young people don’t like these heavy duty Victorian or Canadiana pine furniture,” she said. “Those beautiful dining room sets your grandparents owned — people used to pay tens of thousands of dollars for them. Today, you’re lucky to get $600 for it.”
At 68, Smith said collecting for an antique business is like an addiction. “It’s the thrill of the hunt,” she said.
Now that so many people buy online, she said aging antique vendors, many of whom don’t have a significant digital presence, are losing their credibility.
“You don’t need that touch and feel like we did,” she said. “You can find everything off Amazon and eBay. You don’t need us any more.”
Smith said she’s tired of customers who accuse her of being a “crook” for selling an item at a higher price than what they’ve found on a bargain website. “You just get beat down and down,” she added.
A 2016 report on “game-changing consumer trends” by the Business Development Bank of Canada says millennials who are born between 1980 and 2000 are “driving a profound transformation in habits of all consumers.” Ninety-two per cent of them like to shop online, far more than the generations before them. They’re also frugal when it comes to saving money on household items, the report finds.
Leighann Neilson, a professor who specializes in consumer behaviour at Carleton University, said that besides living in smaller spaces with nowhere to store bulky antiques, younger buyers see them as unwanted investments. “They generally opt for less expensive, more disposal options,” she said.
But Neilson also said younger buyers may not be aware of how steeply antique prices have dropped in the last few years. “The reality is that you can buy a walnut dining set, table and six chairs for cheaper than you can buy them at Ikea. The question is whether or not it will suit their tastes.”
Ernest Johnson, who’s been at the Antique Market for 30 years, said at a time when “supply is greater than demand,” the only way to survive is to adapt.
“You can reach a broader market by going online,” he said. “If you don’t have a website … then that might be a problem.”
In an effort to keep up with trends, Smith said she’s shifted her stock to include “mid-century modern” items that younger generations are more familiar with, such as comic books and action figures. Even so, she said she doesn’t have a lot of hope for the future. “I really don’t think it’s a sustainable market anymore, unless you’ve got the deep pockets to deal in really high-end antiques,” she said.
Neilson, a frequent antique-buyer herself, said that while a product cycle often returns some trendy items to popularity, she’s not sure it’s possible for today’s antique dealers to stay competitive. “It’s a really sad message because I love the stuff they’re selling, but I just can’t keep buying.”
Smith predicts most of the antiques will end up in “throwaway” thrift stores like Value Village, especially when younger generations who’ve had antiques passed down to them want to “get rid of them quick” because they don’t understand their value.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen when we all die off. I guess a whole bunch of history will be lost.”
查看原文...
Logan Antiques was one of nearly a dozen stores along Bank Street — Ottawa’s “antique alley” — that attracted thousands of buyers each year to its regal 19th century furniture and timeless silverware dining sets.
Now, antique dealers in Ottawa say their carefully curated collections are falling unnoticed as millennials, who prefer brand names and large furniture stores such as Ikea, flood the consumer base. All but three antique stores in Old Ottawa South have since closed.
“It’s true,” said Legault. “Grandmother’s knick-knacks? Forget it. Pretty floral prints and polished teapots? Forget it. Victorian parlour is out … We definitely see a decrease in sales.”
Legault said she opened the store after years of collecting. When her husband passed away a decade ago, and her rent increased so much that it became “scary,” Legault downsized her shop and moved into the Ottawa Antique and Vintage Market with other vendors, at 1179 Bank St.
From there, business only went downhill.
“There are not as many people coming in. We’re always trying to figure out what we need to do. It’s a subject of discussion all the time.”
Peter McGregor, who has been working at Champagne Dit Lambert on Bank Street for 28 years, said the shop closures have been a loss to the street’s identity.
“Antiques were the main draw to (Old Ottawa South). People liked to visit from store to store. The less antique stores you have, the less energy,” he said.
Cheryll Smith, at Antique Hoarders in Ottawa, said her sales have easily dropped by 80 per cent.
“Today’s young people don’t like these heavy duty Victorian or Canadiana pine furniture,” she said. “Those beautiful dining room sets your grandparents owned — people used to pay tens of thousands of dollars for them. Today, you’re lucky to get $600 for it.”
At 68, Smith said collecting for an antique business is like an addiction. “It’s the thrill of the hunt,” she said.
Now that so many people buy online, she said aging antique vendors, many of whom don’t have a significant digital presence, are losing their credibility.
“You don’t need that touch and feel like we did,” she said. “You can find everything off Amazon and eBay. You don’t need us any more.”
Smith said she’s tired of customers who accuse her of being a “crook” for selling an item at a higher price than what they’ve found on a bargain website. “You just get beat down and down,” she added.
A 2016 report on “game-changing consumer trends” by the Business Development Bank of Canada says millennials who are born between 1980 and 2000 are “driving a profound transformation in habits of all consumers.” Ninety-two per cent of them like to shop online, far more than the generations before them. They’re also frugal when it comes to saving money on household items, the report finds.
Leighann Neilson, a professor who specializes in consumer behaviour at Carleton University, said that besides living in smaller spaces with nowhere to store bulky antiques, younger buyers see them as unwanted investments. “They generally opt for less expensive, more disposal options,” she said.
But Neilson also said younger buyers may not be aware of how steeply antique prices have dropped in the last few years. “The reality is that you can buy a walnut dining set, table and six chairs for cheaper than you can buy them at Ikea. The question is whether or not it will suit their tastes.”
Ernest Johnson, who’s been at the Antique Market for 30 years, said at a time when “supply is greater than demand,” the only way to survive is to adapt.
“You can reach a broader market by going online,” he said. “If you don’t have a website … then that might be a problem.”
In an effort to keep up with trends, Smith said she’s shifted her stock to include “mid-century modern” items that younger generations are more familiar with, such as comic books and action figures. Even so, she said she doesn’t have a lot of hope for the future. “I really don’t think it’s a sustainable market anymore, unless you’ve got the deep pockets to deal in really high-end antiques,” she said.
Neilson, a frequent antique-buyer herself, said that while a product cycle often returns some trendy items to popularity, she’s not sure it’s possible for today’s antique dealers to stay competitive. “It’s a really sad message because I love the stuff they’re selling, but I just can’t keep buying.”
Smith predicts most of the antiques will end up in “throwaway” thrift stores like Value Village, especially when younger generations who’ve had antiques passed down to them want to “get rid of them quick” because they don’t understand their value.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen when we all die off. I guess a whole bunch of history will be lost.”
查看原文...
