Well, so much for the home-field advantage.

I didn't think I could ask for more: A venue only 10 miles from my south Fort Myers home. Sunny skies, warm (but not oppressively hot) temperatures, and a jewel of a location: Coconut Point mall, the upscale "lifestyle center" on US 41, the heavily-traveled lifeblood of SW Florida retail. And, to top it all, Howard Alan's first fall foray into the area this snowbird season (with a welcome all-day-Friday setup option, to boot)! Surely Howard's vaunted marketing savvy would make this show a winner.

Well, as they're fond of saying on the sports talk shows after an upset loss by the home team: "That's why they play the game." The second annual Coconut Point fall art fair brought skimpy crowds (by Alan's high standard, especially) who seemed to have Thanksgiving travel, not Christmas shopping, on their minds. After a short burst of Saturday-morning shopping energy, the crowds leveled off, then dwindled by late day. And Sunday was more of the same. I made only a dozen sales all weekend--8x10 matted prints and the occasional 16x20--and barely made my booth fee, the worst showing I've had at an Alan event in a long, long, time.

And although a few artists I spoke with captured lightning in a bottle by selling an expensive piece of jewelry or a large, original painting, most were spotting the same trends that I did.

Hard to say what happened, though I'm still a bit woozy from the car wreck, Officer. I make a point to ask visitors to my booth where they're from, and I didn't get the mix of upper-Midwesterners that I normally do this time of year. Most of the visitors were full-time residents, and a few were from Great Britain. Here in SW Florida, many snowbirds come down when the weather gets cold in October or November, then head home to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays up north with the grandchildren. So it could be that they were home packing, not strolling the shows.

From a marketing standpoint, I don't think Howard and his crew did anything wrong here: Customers mentioned newspaper ads and TV spots promoting the festival. The mix of artists was healthy, and the 2-D category was especially strong, featuring some of the best work I've seen in awhile. There was even one of those signs-on-a-forklift along US 41 flashing "Coconut Point Art Festival today", for gosh sakes. But it's worthwhile to keep in mind that this is only the second year for this show. Alan's well-established Valentine's Day weekend show at the same locale, by contrast, is a proven winner and always one of my strongest Florida shows. So it will be interesting to see if its weak sister begins to pull its weight next year, or not.
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  • Seems like promoters have killed off another florida area by over saturating with too many POS shows. Cut that pie up in to way too many pices and it is hard to even get a nibble. Others do HA I dont because of my experiences with that organization.
  • I walked the show on Saturday afternoon as a patron. When we drove up to the area there was alot of traffic, we could hardly find a parking space. When we got to the show area though the crowds were not there, they must have all been shopping in the indoor mall and restaurants.
    The show looked great, weather was beautiful, lots of incredible art and I really took in the creative displays. That show offers an extra 6 feet and the artists really used it to their advantage. I hope the February show will be better as I am doing it. I am also showing this weekend at the Fall Fine Art Festival in Naples, will let you know how it is.
  • I'd say that's true, Connie...though my feeling (based on only 3 years of exhibiting) is that by late March folks are getting a bit weary of show-going in this overcrowded market.

    Much depends, too, on when Easter falls. Many snowbirds wait until then to head North. It's late this year (last weekend in April!) which bodes well for the local economy.

    Any thoughts out there about this from more seasoned veterans than I?
  • Weather has been holding well here in the North, Geoff. Snowbirds who don't have definite plans for departure may still be here. Whoops! It changed today, but that means it is too late for you this time. I'd wager that given several years the Valentine's Day weekend will continue to be the stronger of the two.

    Is it not true the the better of the Florida shows are between January and early April?
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