Antiques Show has new features, more dealers

GLEN RIDGE, NJ — The annual Glen Ridge Antiques Show has a new dealer manager this year. Debbi Turi, who has sold at the show before, will now help run it. According to Turi, the previous dealer manager, Betsy Delorm, has moved away from the Glen Ridge area. The show is celebrating its 71st consecutive year, all of them at the Glen Ridge Congregational Church, on Ridgewood Avenue.
Turi is a dealer and antique show promoter who has helped out with the Glen Ridge show over the years.

Dealers will be plentiful at this show. Turi said last year there were 32 dealers; this year there will be 36.

“We lost approximately seven dealers but there will be 11 new ones,” she said.
The reasons for the losses are various.

“There’s illness, retirements, and some of them didn’t feel it was worth it for them,” she said. “Aging dealers is a huge problem. I’m interested in getting younger people involved, buying and selling.”

She said part of the reason why more younger people do not show an interest in antiques is that schools only glaze over the subject of history.

“It’s not taught like when I was taught history,” she said. “We use to go on field trips.”

A few dealers, when they found out that Turi had taken over the reins, contacted her. She said after being in the business for 21 years, she knows who she wants.
New to the show this year will be a comic book dealer. This is Jack’s Comic Books, in Cedar Grove. Another newcomer will be PD Murphy, from Maine. This dealer sells small furniture and bric-a-brac.

“Small, impressive items,” Turi said.
Overall, the dealers will represent a diverse group.
“Interests have changed,” she said. “There’s not many of the same type of dealers.”

She did not say what she thought would sell at the show but she did say mid-century modern is popular; pottery; art works and jewelry.

“There are no larger furniture dealers in the show,” she said.
Dealers will be coming from Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, Long Island, and two from Maryland.

The appraiser Rich Nieger will be returning after an absence of several years. There will also be a porcelain restorer at the show. The damaged items will be repaired on-site, or if the damage is too critical, the restorer will pack them up to take them home, Turi said. The restorer, she said, goes by the name “Louis.”
Turi was also in charge of the advertising. She said this was changed a little and the show book has been revamped. There was also a new announcement card that went out.

Besides getting an experienced dealer/promoter to guide the show, the Glen Ridge Congregational Church Women’s Association, which sponsors the show and donates all proceeds, will also benefit by Turi’s customer list. So, the show this year may experience a larger crowd than before. Turi said she sent out email blasts to her 3,000 customers. Another 1,000 print mailing went out, too. Dorothy Waldt, who as the show manager oversees the entire annual operation, agreed with Turi.

“We think we’re going to have a big crowd this year,” Waldt said.
The announcements have been given an updated look that Waldt calls more eye-catching. And they are still mailed out. Two years ago, the announcements were lost by the postal service. But Waldt said the new, heavier stock of the cards will ensure that they will go through the postal system more easily.

Digital communications are being used too. In addition to e-blasts, there will be a link between the Glen Ridge show webpage and Turi’s own webpage. This is expected to alert even more people to the 71st. show.

As for the porcelain restorer, Waldt said a good one can take a damaged porcelain item and make it look old.

But Waldt did not know how many people to expect at the show. Dinner reservations, she said, are never a good barometer. “It’s nice to have the reservations but it’s not an indicator,” she said.

The a la carte dining that was inaugurated for the 70th annual show last year will be returning.

The 71st Glen Ridge Antiques Show will be held Friday, Feb. 3, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday, Feb 4, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. An admission fee is charged.

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