What's selling coast to coast: from sports memorabilia in San Fran to conservation in Connecticut, here's a slice of what customers are clamoring for across the country

Art Business News, Feb, 2003 by Carol King

Ninety percent of the store's offerings are gilded in 22 to 23 karats or 12-karat white gold, according to Carroll. "We are not seeing a lot of wood finishes," he said. "We are seeing more opulent finishes. We do some wholesale and have noticed that the smaller shops also are interested in this type of quality."

The company is housed in a large building that includes 20,000 square feet of showroom and 60,000 square feet of manufacturing space. "This enables us to handle any size of design project," Carroll said.

About 25 percent of the store's clientele is walk-in traffic, he noted. "Our walk-in customers are usually interested in conservation framing. We have always been strong advocates on that end. Conservation matting is key for us. Our mats are 100-percent ragboard; we try to avoid the colored buffered boards."

The store, which has one location, has been in business for 25 years. "We get work from all over the world," noted Carroll. "For the most part, it comes by word of mouth."

According to its Web site, the company's hospitality projects can be seen at Associa Tayahashi of Japan, The Four Seasons Resort and Club in Houston, Irving and Austin, Texas, as well as Scottsdale, Ariz., and Santa Barbara, Calif.; Lucayan Beach resort in the Philippines and MGM Grand Penthouse and Lounges in Las Vegas.

Sports and Leisure Sell in San Francisco

Fastframe, two locations in San Francisco Trent Woods, general manager

Sports-related framing is among the popular sellers for Trent Woods, general manager of two Fastframe locations in San Francisco.

"We see a lot of sports memorabilia, such as jerseys for the San Francisco Giants and items related to the San Francisco 49ers," Woods said. "When Barry Bonds broke the home-run record, we framed tickets for people who were at the game. We also framed items that related to the opening of the Pacific Bell Park, which is the new home of the Giants."

Annual sporting events also come into play. "We see a lot of flame jobs come out of the San Francisco Grand Prix race," Woods added. "The 109-mile bicycle road race starts and finishes on the Embarcadero at the end of Market Street. Lance Armstrong and his U.S. Postal Team were the winners in 2002."

Travel and leisure are also fuel for framing jobs, said Woods. "We see posters that people purchased on their vacations; but also, people tend to buy original artwork while they are on a trip. Recently, we have seen a rise in artwork from Bali as well as Tibetan-style artwork. The artwork is basically a thin fabric that is painted with idols and icons. We also cater to people who have traveled to Asia and India and bring in Buddhist-styles of work, which are similar to painted textiles.

"There is a moulding by Bay Moulding that is wooden and gold, which has a great pattern that emulates the patterns within these pieces. It works very well with the travel pieces," he said. "We also sell a lot of fabric mats, which complement the Tibetan pieces. The fabric mats have the richest colors. They are very vibrant."