December 2022 by Jennifer James
They carry some beautiful work by talented artists. I noticed mostly limited reproductions on giclee prints and a few authentic originals.I've sat ruminating on this experience for a couple of months now and wasn't sure I wanted to leave a review. But every time I look at the artwork I purchased, I think of this experience so I guess that is my answer.My husband and I popped in to this gallery after wandering around St. Augustine a couple of days after Hurricane Ian. We wanted to get out of the house, have lunch somewhere, and spend some money with the small businesses in Old Town.Unfortunately, we found the woman manning the sales desk a bit abrupt, rude, and condescending. To be fair, neither my husband nor I look like typical art collectors; I was dressed in leggings, a white tee-shirt and a jean jacket, he was dressed in shorts and a tee. But I have spent years in sales, either in retail or luxury, and have learned to never judge a book by its cover. You never know who has money and you never know who is connected.When we walked in, she pounced on us and began showing off how much she knew about the artists. Let me be clear, it was very much an attempt to feel superior. As I stood, admiring some of the paintings by one very talented Russian artist, she began offering discounts. "If you buy it today, I can do 10% off. But only TODAY." Repeat ad nauseam. I got annoyed. First off, we didn't ask for a discount.I own a fine art luxury portrait studio. You don't need to be pushy to get a sale. I wish she had instead approached us by asking what we loved about the pieces we were looking at, and then described the processes of creation. A good sales person gets to know their customer. Your customers should know, like, and trust you. If you have that, sales are easy. And those customers will come back which means your marketing dollars value is doubled.Perhaps she wasn't trained, or maybe St. Augustine is too transient with tourists for her to care about building relationships with her customers. I don't know.What I do know is she could have had a 4-5k sale from us that day on a couple of pieces of artwork from that artist; instead, her pushy sales tactics left me wishing I hadn't bought the one I did. Thankfully, I DO love it, and it will look lovely on the wall of my portrait studio sitting room. But every time I look at it, I think of this experience.
