He Thinks His Tractor's SEXY!

Alan can find anything. That can be good or bad. He finally got his vintage Farmall Cub tractor down here from our place in Kansas. Uh . . . yeeaahhh. It's in the driveway here at the store near downtown Dallas. Feel free to come visit, but please-don't feed the tractor!

To Market To Market . . .

My friend Portia and I made our annual trek to the Dallas Market at the World Trade Center in Dallas last week. I attended several trend seminars by retail experts. Portia & I also hit the main showrooms. Here's the scoop in a nutshell:

TRENDS: Wood. Natural driftwood-made into lamps, lighting, stands, & furniture.
Glass. It was everywhere! Especially BIG clear glass pieces.
Color. Big colors were RED & YELLOW, especially blue-reds. All shades of
grays are still strong, and the richer, stronger pastels are "in".
All shades of aqua & blue are just like green now-considered earth
colors, and are staples.
Nature. Stones, fossils, wood, bamboo, straw . . . Get Some!

Other stuff we saw: White leather & vinyl, natural fabrics, metal and straw containers, "going green" themed things. Looks like it's one extreme or the other-the extreme natural/raw look or crazy bright candy colors.

2008 Year at a Glance

Photos by Ben Galichia

I must say that last year was a good year. We came through the year all healthy and ended up with some great inventory. This year we had the opportunity to conduct a couple of excellent Estate Sales. The first was a long time Captain for American Airlines. This world traveler had some fabulous collections in aviation dating back to the early 30's. Along with his collections came his wife's, a long time antique collector/dealer. ----To end the year we were blessed - or cursed - with an unbelievable home so stuffed with wonderful antiques that it made things quite challenging. John was the personal beautician for Greer Garson for years. The stories we heard about the world travels of John (many not being able to be repeated) made this business relationship quite special. John's Rolls Royce, the $10,000+ centerpiece we sold, and art collection were inspiring, not to mention the flower gardens he created. http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa19/alangal/estateNov08/ Both Spring and Fall Roundtop/Warrenton Antique Shows turned out to be our top shows ever. The weather was cooperative and so was the buying. Zapp Hall has always been good for us. The atmosphere with Cheryl & Mike LeHane and Cheryl's family have made us feel like a part of their family. Considering we have been in the same Zapp Hall location for the past 16 years tends to bond one another. Our baby (Ben) that spent his first Roundtop in a bassinet under a display will be going to College in a few years. His love/hate relationship with the business is now beginning to blossom: from the Pokemon booth he once thrived at, to his paintings that he sold, to his Butterfly Collections, to now-Photography (his latest passion). Just wondering if someday he may advance his skills to a Cosmetic Surgery booth at Zapp Hall, since he's considering a career in medicine.