The Business of Antiques
May 11, 2020
Behind The Scenes in Quarantine with Toma Clark Haines | Season 1 Ep 12
playlist_add
In this episode of The Business of Antiques we share the Behind the Scenes Podcast with Host Cindy Hodnett - the director of public relations and communications for the IMC, owner of High Point, Las Vegas and Atlanta Markets. Today on our podcast the tables are turned. Instead of me interviewing Cindy - Cindy interviewed me - Toma Clark Haines - on what it’s really like to live life in Quarantine in Italy. We discuss quarantine, running a business, the changing tides of design, and what trends to expect coming out of the Coronavirus as well as how this virus has changed me. We take a moment to reflect on wellness. Now more than ever self care is important and we discuss the various ways you can care for yourself during these days of self sheltering.
Until Next Time
Toma Clark Haines,
Founder - The Republic of Toma https://www.republicoftoma.com/ CEO - The Antiques Diva https://antiquesdiva.com/
The Antiques Diva & Co: Antique buying tours and sourcing services in 16 countries on 3 continents
Antique Dealer Training Program: Antique dealer training and mentorship & services for new and experienced dealers
The Antiques Diva Furniture Collection By Aidan Gray: Reproductions using classic design mixed with modern materials
Republic of Toma: Custom jewelry designed by Toma, inspired by her love of antiques and travel
More episodes from The Business of Antiques
1 day ago
It Feels Like MOMENTUM!
Toma Clark Haines, CEO of The Antiques Diva & Co – the world’s largest antiques touring company – visits with a very special guest – Richard Burgoin with Arthur Swallows Fairs. Richard, along with his wife Anna and his brother Marc are second-generation fair organizers. And with their all hands on deck approach, there is a third generation learning the ropes as well. Richard and Marc’s father, Peter, launched the first ever Arthur Swallow Fair in 1995 in a disused hangar at an RAF Airfield in Lincolnshire. Around 50 dealers attended, and it became a regular fixture growing exponentially. Even at their young ages, Richard and Marc enjoyed shadowing their father and helping out with the setting-up, lifting, and carrying, and they soon got a taste for the ‘trade.’ When they left school, they joined their father working alongside him until 2008 when he retired. They continue to host some of the friendliest fairs, markets, and shows in the country welcoming everyone from collectors, dealers, and interior designers to home renovators, props stylists, and small business owners. They also welcome families and encourage the younger generation to discover the joys of hunting for beautiful old treasures, not to mention the environmental and financial benefits.
The Burgoins take great pride in creating and running events which brilliantly serve both the trade and public, hosting everything from fast-paced, one-day markets to relaxed, three-day boutique home shows at several locations around the UK. The Arthur Swallow Fairs strongly focus on the antique, salvage, and vintage market with quality, provenance, affordability, and sustainability at the core of what their exhibitors offer. Their Antiques & Home Show held at the Lincolnshire Showground in Lincoln is especially aimed at the trade. This show is held on set Tuesdays in March, May, August, October, and December. To check dates on any of the Arthur Swallow Fairs, you can go to their website. www.asfairs.com. The Antiques & Home Show is an unmissable event for collectors, interior designers, independent retail buyers, set-designers, prop buyers, landscape architects, restaurateurs, and those passionate about creating a stylish living space. It offers visitors everything from fine antiques, art, pretty vintage, salvage, industrial, jewelry, curios, militaria, glassware, china, gardenalia to the unusual.
Another very popular Arthur Swallow Fair is The Antiques & Salvage Market which is always held on Saturday (see website for specific dates and times) at Cheshire Showground near Knutsford (just south of Manchester). Visit the beautiful Cheshire countryside for some top quality antique and salvage rummaging from around 200 excellent dealers, perfect for both the public buyer looking for unique items for your home and garden, or a trade buyer looking to restock your shop. And one mustn’t forget their Vintage Flea Markets which are held on certain Sundays at the EXO Centre at Lincoln. And to round their fair experiences out, they offer the incredibly popular Decorative Home and Salvage Shows. These three-day outdoor boutique style events are set in stunning countryside locations aimed at those who love to source beautiful pieces for the home and garden. Laid out in marquees, shopping arcades, and outdoor pitches spilling out onto the grass brocante style, the stylishly displayed stock is suitable for all from trade and home buyers to stylists and props buyers. Some of the challenges antiques dealers have faced with Brexit got Richard to reflect on and reminisce about the heyday of popularity of UK antiques back in the 1990s when his father first started the fairs, and there would be as many as 3,500 stall holders from all over Europe buying and selling antiques.
Richard began to...
playlist_add
Mar 21, 2023
The House Directory
Today’s episode features Angel Tan, CEO of The House Directory, the leading UK website for every interior design source under the sun. You will recall in Season 2 that Toma Clark Haines, CEO of The Antiques Diva & Co, announced they are now doing MORE THAN ANTIQUES.
As always, the quest is to help make your antiques business more profitable, and one cannot ignore the age old joke among dealers, “Once again, I’ve paid my rent on pillows and candles!” In order for an antiques store to be profitable, you have to think outside of the chaise lounge.
A brilliant way The Antiques Diva & Co do this is by helping their clients not only source antiques around the world but also one-of-a-kind handmade and artisanal goods.
Toma has personally followed The House Directory for more than a decade, and “personally” in this instance means not just as a business contact but as an avid user in her own decorating. Toma first utilized the site to decorate at least 50% of her home in the Netherlands back in 2010.
As a long time fan of the site, Toma is excited to sit down with Angel Tan – a relatively new CEO – who took over a year and a half ago when the last of the founders decided to step down from this 22 year old venture. Angel is a fellow antiques enthusiast with a passion for bringing timeless classics into her home and a penchant for mid-century modern. “I just love the juxtaposition of antique pieces in a contemporary environment. The older items, so full of character, can just sing more in the calmer, more minimal space.”
The House Directory is an online sourcebook for interior designers. They curate the resources in their list. Angel originally encountered the founders over a decade ago. The House Directory started as a series of books under House & Garden magazine. Serendipity allowed that many years later – Angel discovered that a friend’s mother was one of the founders, and Angel began her journey working with The House Directory.
Angel spent years training and working as a qualified architect, has founded several businesses, and also took a foray into teaching. She brings this wealth of skills and knowledge to the table in her oversight of The House Directory as it strives not only just to be a resource but to also educate people in as many areas related to design in the home as possible. In addition to the directory, they have a bi-montly newsletter as well as a blog. The site has 21 categories (which were the same categories that the founders initially put in the books) and hundreds of sub-categories that can be searched alphabetically by the company name and through the sub-categories – making it an incredibly flexible and user-friendly site.
Many of the companies that are part of The House Directory have been with them for the entire 22 years, but Angel shares that they are always on the lookout at trade shows and events and on social media for companies that they think would be a good addition to the directory and to which they extend invitations. There is also an online application so that businesses who feel like they are a good fit and would like to be considered for The House Directory can apply. The House Directory has a great listing of antique dealers, which is an area that Angel would really like to grow. “Decorating with antiques is one of the many ways in which interior designers and home-owners can be more sustainable,” shares Angel.
Angel and The House Directory have recently partnered with Gail McCleod of The Antique News and Fairs (and also VP of The Antiques Diva & Co.) to bring a special advertising offer for dealers to join both sites at once! (See link at end of post.) While The House Directory will continue to offer excellence as a go-to online resource, Angel sees the company returning to real life in the future starting with an exhibit...
playlist_add
Mar 14, 2023
Where Everybody Knows Your Name - Jane Juran & The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair
Often referred to by dealers as “The Decorative Fair” or even simply “Battersea”, The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair is THE fair among fairs. If Toma Clark Haines, CEO of The Antiques Diva & Co, could choose only one antiques fair to attend for the rest of her days, it would hands-down be “Battersea”. Filled to the brim with “complete and utter jaw-dropping eye candy,” it is the one fair that Toma could simply not live without. So, it is her joy to bring you today, Jane Juran, the owner of The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair, located at Battersea Park in London. Toma shares that if you take the top 1% of what is at the Paris Flea Market, then “Battersea” is what you get. Featuring 140+ exhibitors offering traditional and informal antiques, 20th century design and works of art, plus a seasonal focus on garden and exterior-related decoration including furniture, objects, planters and statuary – The Decorative Fair is London’s largest and longest-running major event of its kind.
Jane shares that after missing four fairs due to COVID-19, The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair is back with a vengeance – citing that the fair in January as one of the best in years. Opening queue at “Battersea” is one of Toma’s very favorite things to photograph as they are known for the waiters coming out with trays of glasses of champagne for those waiting in line. “It’s like any party!” shares Jane. “You work so hard getting ready that we’re just so happy when we get the queue that we like to give everyone a little drink.”
Fast approaching its 40th anniversary, the fair was first launched in Battersea Park in London in 1985 by antiques dealer Particia Harvey. Attendees are met not only with a drink but with specialist dealers from across the UK displaying their carefully-gathered collections of country house antiques, art nouveau and deco designs, mid-century classics, glass and silverware, decorative textiles and rugs, out of the ordinary lighting and mirrors, collectable curios and objets d’art, jewelry and unexpected treasures alongside art and sculpture of all eras and styles from traditional to contemporary.
In her travels around the UK, Toma often encounters dealers with a secret stash that, when she inquires about, they simply tell her, “Oh, that’s for Battersea.” Jane confirms that a lot of the items found at The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair are new to market in London. The mind-boggling range of items date from pre-1700 to the seventies, while art extends to the contemporary, and prices range from under £50 to £50,000+. A trip to The Decorative Fair can help you decorate every room in any type of house from top to toe in myriad tastes, from extraordinary to understated, opulent to folksy, formal to fun. Jane takes great pride not only in the impressive inventory one can find at her fair but also in the warm, friendly, welcoming environment they have managed to maintain over the years. While attendees come from all walks of life, including the occasional well-known celebrities as well as the top interior designers, there is a comfortable, accommodating feel at the fair. They do a lot to make shopping at Battersea Decorative Fair easy. Hosted in a great facility, there is a shuttle bus that runs from Sloane Square just down Sloan Street into Battersea Park. There’s also lots of parking, which is unusual for London. The event is dog friendly and when you need a little rest or sustenance, they have a place to sit and have a cup of tea or something to eat before you shop again.
Although not a dealer herself, Jane’s husband David was an active participant and dealer in the fair early in their marriage in the 1990s. Jane was always involved in the administration end of things and, at the end of 2008 – wanting to keep an antiques dealer at the helm, Patricia sold the fair to David and Jane. David ran the fair and Jane was the support, but, after David’s sudden death in...
playlist_add