Martin never, ever sells anything from his upscale gallery space but refuses to close it. Why, one wonders, does he take this position. It happens that Martin’s seemingly excessive cost of rent with no payback guarantee’s his income. Want to know why?
The art Martin sells is one-of-a-kind woven pieces of considerable size, some even 6’ x 10’, all made in a specific country by several different artists and in many cases may take one artist two or more years to make.
Martin sells the art one by one, by flying all over the country to high-end buyers who see the works, often just in photos. They don’t ever care to come to the gallery and take the pieces contingent on approval.
Of course, the art when it arrives needs to be stored but Martin could use a climate-controlled warehouse for this.
Martin is careful to have several artists engaged. Otherwise, were there only one artist, that artist’s demise would be catastrophic to Martin’s success.
In other words, the artists are at the heart of Martin’s business. He needs them to want to sell through him and THEY want to be represented in a gallery, a nice gallery. No one but Martin does this.
Martin assures them this and they are happy.
From a business-sale perspective, a new owner may see an opportunity to just save on the cost of rent. Perhaps this is a bad idea.
