Has anyone had the opportunity to go through Cisco’s in Coeur d’Alene? I don’t get over there very often, but they’ve got some pretty amazing and drool worthy items for your Western showplace when you win the lottery.
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I have visited their website many times, but not the store. Here is a good article…
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Crazy prices. $350 for a Fred Harvey cuff.
The jewelry seems priced much more than I would see elsewhere - but just walking through the store is pretty amazing.
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Here is my 2¢ worth again. Having been in the antiques and jewelry businesses, although not to the degree as Cisco’s, I can understand his prices. Through investing, knowledge, and a lot of boots on the ground, he has made available many higher end items.
Historically, retail pricing was established by the rule of thirds: one third cost; one third overhead; and one third profit (before taxes). Just looking at the one $350 bracelet, he makes a grand total of about $87 (figuring 25% tax bracket) on that bracelet after taxes. And that’s after it sits in the shop for who knows how long. Not something I would want to do.
Most shop owners will be able to score such a bracelet for $10 at a garage or estate sale from time to time. But they also have to purchase from private sellers and auctions to keep inventory up, and also purchase the $10K painting that they will only be able to sell for $12K if and when the right person comes along, possibly years down the road.
And the benefit we get if we can’t afford those items is the knowledge we gain (at his expense) so we can identify bargains for ourselves, thus also possibly becoming his competitor (again, at his possible expense). As an added bonus you can get to value your own items.
Not having that kind of money to invest, I’ve been fortunate to build my collections from mostly bargain hunting, 40 years’ worth of it. I found that the thrill is in the hunt, not the kill.
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Thank you @StevesTrail for that great explanation. My father owned a furniture business that had been in the family for about a hundred years. In the late 70’s everything fell apart ( a fire, high interest rates, local big businesses leaving), and we kids decided to close in the 80’s (dad had died). People didn’t understand why; they just thought because we owned a big building and store we had a lot of $. And overhead was ALWAYS a big deal. I also imagine this store has the added cost of being in an expensive tourist area. And it does look like an amazing store!
Just the same, this is partly why I love to visit the 4 Corners area to shop. But even then, I mostly don’t spend on the plaza in Santa Fe!
I also love your point about increasing our knowledge at a place like this. I’ve always been able to learn from the owners of many of my favorite trading posts/shops like Ogg’s Hogan in Prescott.
I think it’s this more than anything. I follow sandcast buckles closely and most, if not all, of Cisco’s sandcast buckles are common patterns, however the prices are more than double compared to other buckles of the same pattern that I have seen for sale.
That said, it’s a terrific gallery and I would love to visit.
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