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Discover Mid-America — February 2006
Risk management strategies for the trade
Last month's Good Eye column focused on presentation — that all-important difference between clutter and conscious display in arranging merchandise. The distinction reminds me of the painting on 19th and 20th century Chinese and Japanese porcelain. Items created for domestic taste always had a good deal of "breathing space" around the painting, while, consistent with the more flamboyant and ostentatious tastes of Western buyers, items created for export were elaborately painted, with little or no white space at all showing.
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This small, ovoid Satsuma vase is done in the style preferred by a Japanese domestic market. Note all that "breathing space" around the painting, which clearly shows the underlying crackle glaze (not visible in this photo), which is a hallmark of Satsuma pottery. Most Satsuma is produced for export, however, and had this been destined for a Western market, every available space would have been filled in with the elaborately detailed painting and gilding traditionally sought by Westerners. [photo by the author from her own collection.] |
Analogously, we in the West have traditionally lacked an appreciation for breathing space in merchandise display — as anyone can testify who's lately tried to navigate a shopping cart through the aisles of a grocery or department store. But this problem extends beyond mere aesthetics and into "risk management" — defined as the assessment of injury, loss, or liability potential at point of sale and the development of strategies to manage (i.e., minimize) that risk. Cluttered retail spaces in the antiques trade are often dangerous spaces for shoppers and inviting targets for crooks.
Obstacles — stacked or otherwise
Many display areas have space beneath eye level that dealers use for heavier and/or less attractive merchandise. Remember the times you, yourself, have tripped over, kicked or stepped on merchandise sticking out into the aisle. The point here, though, is that the damage potential isn't just about the merchandise. A customer injury can be an expensive lesson in paying better attention to risk management.
At the other display extreme is precariously stacked merchandise - e.g., heavy glass or pottery - at or above eye level. Again, it isn't just about the potential damage to the merchandise. A precariously balanced cut glass or lead crystal bowl raining down on an unsuspecting customer's vulnerable head is a potentially expensive liability lesson.
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In a shop whose proprietors aren't sufficiently conscious of risk management, this iron anvil (in as-found condition) is just the sort of thing one might find sticking out too far into a foot-traffic area, ready to snag an unwary shopper and send him/her sprawling. Shudder to think! [photo by the author.] |
But poorly positioned merchandise isn't always the fault of dealers. Shop owners and staff need to be patrolling the premises to reposition items moved by customers — much as staff in a retail store will have to refold and reposition items tossed by careless shoppers. Dealers, shop owners, and staff all have to learn to look at retail space — whether at shop, show or auction hall — with a risk manager's eye.
Lighting and floor surfaces
Poor lighting is a particular risk in foot-traffic areas, especially if
there are changes in floor level (stairs. raised thresholds or inclines)
not easily seen even with good lighting. Some antique shops have loose
floor tiles or cement floors with pitted or uneven surfaces.
Facilities that make the customer nervous just walking in them are not likely to invite return traffic. Beyond that, once the customer's fallen, it's a little late to bite your nails hoping he'll "be reasonable" about his options for suing you.
Electrical and mechanical hazards
Electrical hazards can be of two types: poorly wired "working" electrical appliances or wiring and extension cords strung near traffic areas (more of a tripping than an electrical hazard). Owners, if you have dealers who rewire their own antique appliances, make sure they know what they're doing before you allow them to sell their stuff in your venue. The last thing you need is some customer reaching to unplug one of the display lamps and getting electrocuted. (Don't laugh; it's not an apocryphal example.) If you're a multi-dealer shop proprietor, it's your reputation — and liability risk — on the line more than the individual dealer's.
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This striking NAO (by Lladrü) Spanish porcelain lamp has European wiring and has to be re-wired for compatibility with U.S. electrical systems. I understand it's a fairly easy conversion — for someone who knows how to do it safely! — using a few inexpensive parts from the local hardware store. But if you're the owner of a multi-dealer shop and have dealers selling electrical items they've adapted or re-wired themselves, it's every bit your business to make sure they know what they're doing if they intend to display those items in your shop. (photo by author) |
If your building has room air conditioners or fans, how old are they? When was the last time they were cleaned? How confident are you that they aren't an electrical fire risk? If your building has an elevator, when was the last time you had it inspected and/or serviced?
Managing theft risk
Not all risk management involves personal injury prevention. I've written about theft prevention for a previous column, so I'm not going to cover it in depth here. Suffice it to say, for purposes of the present column, that shops that have been hit multiple times probably aren't paying enough attention to security. Crooks are opportunists. Apparently, they also network, so word gets around pretty fast about places perceived to be the "easy mark."
The expense of adequate security measures has to be weighed against the loss of good will of victimized dealers and/or the risk of exhibitor litigation against mall owners perceived (however unfairly) as being lax about security.
Insurance
Insurance will always be a judgment call. The costs of purchasing insurance have to be weighed against the cost of losing your inventory - or your whole livelihood. If you paid little for your inventory and it's not worth much more than what you paid for it, then maybe insurance doesn't make a great deal of sense. But the more valuable the inventory, the higher the risks/stakes in "going bare" on your insurance coverage.
In 2004, in New Hampshire, a popular multi-dealer shop was completely gutted in a late winter fire, during which sub-zero temperatures complicated traditional efforts to fight fire with water. (And never mind fire damage; what about the damage from all that water, whether it freezes or not?)
Hours after the fire, it shocked some to discover that not only did the mall owners not have the building insured, but just about every dealer in the place was also uninsured. In at least a couple of cases, dealers who only exhibited in this one place lost their entire inventory of very costly items. It seems, then, that diversifying one's exhibit space across multiple venues is a useful strategy for managing risk to inventory.
Peggy Whiteneck is a writer and collector living in East Randolph, VT. If you would like to suggest a topic she can address in her column, email her at allwrite@sover.net.
> Good Eye Archive — past columns