Gallery hopping with Ian

Yesterday was a different kind of day at the office.  See, we weren’t at the office.  That is different!

We’d talked last week about taking a trip through Jerome and Sedona to chat with folks at other galleries.  The goals were pretty simple.  See about other places interested in listing our work and make everyone aware of our Giclee’ reproduction service.

I’d say we did pretty well over all.  Several galleries are interested in each of us.  We’ll be following up very soon in each case and see where things go.  I also learned of another Giclee’ printer in Jerome.  Hmmmm…..a little more competition eh?  That’s ok with me.  I’m extremely satified with the prints we offer, and my customer base is too.  Best part, the customer base is expanding.

A few folks came by our gallery yesterday looking for me.  Follow up calls will be made today.

I’m sorry to say we had one very bad experience in a gallery.  Go figure it was a high end photo gallery.  To wrap up our day we went into Tlaquepaque, a pretty cool place with a large assortment of stores and galleries.  One drew me in as there were some pretty amazing photos inside.  We weren’t sure at first if the gallery was open, as it was pretty dark inside.  As we entered Ian asked if they were still open.  A guy spoke to us from above, “We’re open, I’m changing bulbs.  Smart ass customers……”

Yup, that’s what the guy said when we entered.  We seriously didn’t want to enter if they were closing…. and for that we were called smart asses.  What a nice guy.

Our bad experience continued when we asked about the mounting on one of the prints in the shop.  It was pretty cool, so Ian asked what it was mounted on.  The young woman in the shop told us she couldn’t say what the print was mounted on.  The bulb changing guy walked by and said, “We’re in business to make money.  How things are mounted are a trade secret.  Would you give away your secrets?”

Just rude.  No prices on any prints.  If you have to ask you can’t afford it. A really bad experience.  We didn’t talk to them about our work or the fact that we own a gallery here in Prescott.  I guess people expect to be treated poorly in higher end shops, but I sure don’t appreciate it.  The amazing part is the owners of this gallery are famous photographers that own galleries in Hawaii and Santa Fe as well.  I sure hope the employees they have in other locations are nicer to their visitors, as I don’t see how they could make a dime with such rude people!

Have you ever been called a smart ass by a store employee for asking a simple question?  Yesterday was the first time for me!