Into Antiques?

On ebay you'll find over 100 categories covering the Medieval and Renaissance periods, through Georgian, Regency and Victorian, to Edwardian, Art Nouveau and Art Deco.

Antique Dealers in California

Linda Stamberger

Linda Stamberger, author of "Antiquing In Florida", is a Florida expert and freelance writer of many genres. Visit this site to read her articles - some of which are available for purchase - as is her book.


Brooks Novelty Antiques and Records

Brooks Novelty is an all-vinyl record store. We specialize in: jukeboxes, vintage soda machines, antique slot machines, pin balls, arcade games, neon clocks and signs, rare concert posters, old advertising signs and much more!


The Antique Company

Established in the late 1900's, we occupy a huge corner building with a small garden area that leads to another 1000 sq foot store (called TAC) that contains our Mid Century collection.


Vintage Westclox

Westclox photo identification gallery and history and information of clocks, watches and other timepieces. This site primarily displays American clocks made by Westclox that were made from the early 1900's up to about the 1960's.


Antique Appraisals On-Line

We are one of the country's largest, oldest, most qualified and respected appraisal services. The majority of our appraisals are estate and personal property evaluations for valuation documentation purposes. However, we have evaluated goods and personal property for natural disaster losses (hurricanes), theft, fire, freight and shipping damage after the loss has occurred.


Connoisseur Antiques

Featuring fine antique furniture, Connoisseur Antiques is a Los Angeles Antique Furniture Showroom specializing in antique clocks and mirrors, European and French antiques, Antique Lighting, Chandeliers, Sconces, Armoires and much more.


Liz's Antique Hardware

Antique Hardware is the backbone of our business. We offer a complete selection of door, window and furniture hardware, lighting and accessories circa 1890 to 1970.


San Francisco Antique and Design Mall

San Francisco Antique and Design Mall is the largest antique mall in northern California. We opened our doors in October 1997 with 75 dealers and today we have over 200 of San Francisco's most professional antique specialists.


Ambiance Antiques

Importer of 18th and 19th Century French Antiques


C'est La Vie Antiques

European Antique and Accessories in San Diego, CA.


Lang Antiques

We carry a large selection of fine antique jewelry, antique rings & antique engagement rings. We also have vintage estate jewelry, vintage estate rings & vintage estate engagement rings from the Victorian, Art Nouveau, Edwardian & Art Deco style periods.


Once in a Blue Moon Online Thrift Store

We are an online thrift store featuring new, used, and unusual items.


Sunday, June 24, 2012

Not Just California Dreamin': Detroit 3 Conquesting The Surf - Forbes

Not Just California Dreamin': Detroit 3 Conquesting The Surf - Forbes
CALIFORNIA 1941-44 LICENSE PLATE WITH TABS

Photo: woody1778a

First in a series about the Detroit Three’s growing incursions in the California auto market.

California has emerged as a top target for some of the newest and most important vehicles in the Detroit Three’s product portfolio these days, and the Golden State has been returning the favor: General Motors, Ford and Chrysler have picked up notable shares of the California market lately. Now the Detroit Three are trying to make sure the state remains golden for them for years to come.

Ford has led the way by increasing Ford brand market share three years in a row, to more than 9 percent last year from 7 percent in 2008. Chevrolet boosted its California retail-market share for three years in a row, to more than 6 percent last year, and posted a nearly-6-percent share this year through May. Even Chrysler — whose efforts, one of its executives admitted last year, were “flipping terrible” there — has gotten up off the mat in California: After bottoming out at a less-than-4-percent share there in 2010, Chrysler boosted its take to nearly 5 percent last year and nearly 6 percent in this year’s first quarter.

These numbers remain far below national market shares for each auto maker. But their executives are focusing on the new direction they’re headed in California.

“It’s the biggest market in the U.S. but one where we’ve been under-performing for years compared with nationally,” Alan Batey, GM’s newly promoted vice president of U.S. sales and service after heading up Chevrolet sales for a few years, told me. “So the word that sums it up is ‘opportunity.’”

Jason Stoicevich, director of Chrysler’s California business center, said that the “edict came from the top on this that we have to do well” in California. “It’s a trend-setting state with a lot of early adopters, so our products need to take off.”

It’s been a half-century since the Beach Boys first sang about Chevrolets and since the free-wheeling image of big-finned domestic automobiles fit perfectly with the carefree, larger-than-life-style embodied by California — and the combination resonated with American culture at large. For 30 years, wave after wave of Japanese and then Korean imports landed on America’s nearest shore and pummeled the Detroit Three, making U.S.-based brands essentially irrelevant in the state that was always defining and redefining national tastes.

Superior Japanese engine technology and quality were the wedges at a time when California had to take the lead in boosting mileage and cutting emissions out of sheer self-preservation, and demanding West Coast consumers had no patience for poor manufacturing quality coming out of Detroit. An entertainment and news industry based in large part in Hollywood piled on the plight of Detroit brands by talking them down for decades.

The key in the recent significant shift back in a positive direction, of course, has been a stream of new products collectively offered by Detroit that Californians finally consider significantly worthy of their consideration again: the Chevrolet Cruze and Volt, for example; Ford Fiesta and Focus; Chrysler 300 and Fiat 500. They offer new takes from the Motor City on fuel economy, features, styling and quality.

“They’re good, quality cars and people seem to like them — they’re not the cheap econoboxes of old,” said Jessica Caldwell, senior U.S. industry analyst for Edmunds.com. “They carry lots more amenities, and that helps too. Californians are being surprised in a good way by these products, which will help [the Detroit Three] get on their radar even more.”


Source: www.forbes.com

No comments:

Post a Comment