It's starting to feel like spring - the season of new beginnings and renewed optimism about the future. But our awareness that the world is still far from normal was underscored last month when we were informed by our British shippers that our newest stock, which was to have left England on March 16, is still in the UK. At this moment, though we're remaining optimistic, we have no idea when our shipment will begin its journey to Conway.
Nevertheless, we've taken an important step towards resuming what has been normal for us by booking flights, hotels, and car rental for a buying trip to England in the fall. While the future is no more certain in the UK than it is here in the US and two of the hotels in which we usually stay haven't answered our emails, we are hopeful that barriers might be lifted before the snow flies.
The Spring Fox Valley show was very good for us and for most other dealers, with total show sales surpassing those of the preceding fall show. CSADA has already posted the dates for this year's fall show on October 16 & 17, which will again utilize Marvin Getman's very successful virtual platform. We look forward to being part of this outstanding event.
Rhinebeck news: Frank Gaglio and his team have made the decision to have an in-person show on Memorial Day weekend, just like the old days, but with stringent safety measures in place. While something in each of us would love to get back into the person-to-person world of live shows, we've decided that we won't be there. The online world is being very good to us, and this seems like a good time for us to take our leave of the world of live shows. Our shop will remain open by appointment, and we'll be announcing a schedule of regular open days over the summer months. We hope that many of you will visit us from time to time. Our website and our monthly newsletters will continue, of course, as they are a vital part of our business.
Our Spring Opening will once again be an online event, presented in two installments on the first Tuesdays of May and June. Although we won't have our usual influx of new stock from England in May, we've been able to buy some great things close to home and, with the inventory we've held back from earlier trips, we'll have enough good furniture, jewelry, paintings, and other accessories to guarantee that these two mailings will be rich with new offerings. The first session will go online at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 4. A reminder will be mailed a few days prior to it.
This month's newsletter includes a few new listings in all categories as well as a few new entries in The Bookshop. A picture of Pippin in Conway and a virtual visit to the middle East complete this month's issue. We hope you'll enjoy it.
