Sunday, May 03, 2009 11:54:30 PM
Good evening all. I visited the Grand Opening of Artfest Saturday and have several pictures attached. I was also able to speak to several employees, however the CEO was very occupied with others during my visit.
From my assessment of this business, they have chosen a prime North Dallas location, 200 yards from one of the busiest intersections in Dallas, 1/4 North on Midway road just off IH-635, the major loop around Dallas. There are many upscale, and major brand big box retailers in the area, including Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and some of the best restaurants in town. Exposure here is not an issue.
They are located on the second floor of an old furniture store, and they occupy maybe half of that floor. The decor is beautiful and very tastefully remodeled. The first floor is occupied by an upscale designer furniture store, with many fine products that I cannot afford.
My first impression was 'who would buy this expensive artwork', and then I realized how many wealthy people there are here. Just the cars in the parking lot were impressive. As you may be able to see on the photos, the prices were from the $500's, to the many thousands of $$$ for some of the pieces.
The sports memorobilia was very impressive, but seemed to be focused on the region with Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers, Mavericks, and the Stars, as well as many of the colleges in the area. It looks as though this will be a membership driven endeavor, with significant price breaks if you join.
The sales staff were not aggressive, and were very helpful. I could see the enthusiam with what they had just launched.
My only concern was the volume of visitors. I was one of 5 people actually in the studios at the time, at 1:30 in the afternoon. The seminar that was to occur at 1:00 had no attendees. Weather could have had something to do with the low attendance. (one hour after my visit, the Cowboys had the building collapse only 5 miles from this)
I fear that this could be a very hard business to get going in a profitable direction. Unless they start pumping some serious advertising, this won't fly. They do have some competition in this area, and the furniture store on the first floor also offers art pieces for sale.
All of the employees are hopeful this will take off, but without advertising, and huge PR....it's going to flop. You would think they could have at least had the sign outside on the main road changed before the grand opening.
Hope this helps, drop me a line if you have any questions.
slinkydfw@gmail.com
From my assessment of this business, they have chosen a prime North Dallas location, 200 yards from one of the busiest intersections in Dallas, 1/4 North on Midway road just off IH-635, the major loop around Dallas. There are many upscale, and major brand big box retailers in the area, including Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and some of the best restaurants in town. Exposure here is not an issue.
They are located on the second floor of an old furniture store, and they occupy maybe half of that floor. The decor is beautiful and very tastefully remodeled. The first floor is occupied by an upscale designer furniture store, with many fine products that I cannot afford.
My first impression was 'who would buy this expensive artwork', and then I realized how many wealthy people there are here. Just the cars in the parking lot were impressive. As you may be able to see on the photos, the prices were from the $500's, to the many thousands of $$$ for some of the pieces.
The sports memorobilia was very impressive, but seemed to be focused on the region with Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers, Mavericks, and the Stars, as well as many of the colleges in the area. It looks as though this will be a membership driven endeavor, with significant price breaks if you join.
The sales staff were not aggressive, and were very helpful. I could see the enthusiam with what they had just launched.
My only concern was the volume of visitors. I was one of 5 people actually in the studios at the time, at 1:30 in the afternoon. The seminar that was to occur at 1:00 had no attendees. Weather could have had something to do with the low attendance. (one hour after my visit, the Cowboys had the building collapse only 5 miles from this)
I fear that this could be a very hard business to get going in a profitable direction. Unless they start pumping some serious advertising, this won't fly. They do have some competition in this area, and the furniture store on the first floor also offers art pieces for sale.
All of the employees are hopeful this will take off, but without advertising, and huge PR....it's going to flop. You would think they could have at least had the sign outside on the main road changed before the grand opening.
Hope this helps, drop me a line if you have any questions.
slinkydfw@gmail.com
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