Business Spotlight: The Art of Small Business

The last 40 years have created a vastly different landscape in the fine arts supply business.

When Jerry Sanders founded National Art Shop in 1970 in Springfield, there was no Internet where artists could hunt for low-cost art supplies. The industry paints a much different picture today, as National Art Shop and other small businesses face increasing competition from large Internet sites that can offer wholesale pricing.

National Art Shop owners – Jerry, who is semiretired, and his wife, Jean – have had to find ways to stay profitable in a deeply recessed economy.

“Our goal right now is just staying in business,” Jean Sanders says jokingly, verbalizing what many small-business owners feel today.

National Art Shop retains its niche in selling graphics, drafting and fine art supplies, cards and gift items for artists, and in offering custom framing. Revenues dipped 10 percent in 2009, compared to 2008, but the company hasn’t laid off any staff members.

The Sanderses have a plan for 2010, beginning with improving National Art Shop’s Web presence at www.nationalartshop.com.

The drawing board  
National Art Shop opened in 1,400 square feet on the corner of Bennett Street and National Avenue.

Jerry and Jean Sanders ran the shop with help from Jerry Sanders’ mother, Louise Prater, and his aunt, Lucille Hammond, until they retired in 1981. During the 1970s and 1980s, National Art Shop served the artists and students of Springfield and became known as a regional art supply and custom-frame shop.

In 1986, the Sanderses moved to the current 6,200-square-foot store, 509 S. National Ave., lured by its proximity to college art students.

“We thought we would have to rent half of it out,” Jean Sanders says of the larger footprint. “Now, we don’t have room to add anything.”

The biggest change to the art supply business was the computer, which took away the need for markers, boards and dry-transfer lettering.

Instead of branching into software programs and other items for graphic artists, Sanders says they decided to add to their lines of cards and gift items for artists. Among their gift selections are mugs, watches and slippers. “We are continually trying to find little gift items people can’t find anywhere else in town,” she says.

In addition to the retail art supply and gift items, which Sanders says account for approximately 50 percent of sales, National Art Shop performs custom framing for individuals, organizations, businesses and schools such as Missouri State, Drury and Evangel universities. Some of Bass Pro’s new stores are adorned with custom framing by National Art Shop.

Framing prices vary widely, Sanders says, but an average framing for a 16 x 20 print could cost roughly $165. Trained staff members have done stacked framing and leather frame jobs for up to $2,000.

“We have thousands of moldings for custom frames,” she says, adding that large commercial jobs average $10,000.

Kris Evans, a commercial interior designer for Interior Planning Consultants in Springfield, works with National Art Supply on custom framing orders. Most recently, she employed National Art Supply’s service for the office of new accounting firm Robinson & Co.

“There’s a big difference in the quality of (National Art Shop’s) product, you can just feel it is heavier and has substance to it,” Evans says. “They give personal service (and) meet our deadlines.”

Designed for the Web
To capture a broader online audience, a new endeavor links National Art Shop with some of its wholesale suppliers to increase their own Internet sales, as well as provide their local customers a larger selection. Sanders says it’s too early to calculate the impact, but she says it already has registered out-of-state orders.

“Now, even if we don’t stock that item, we can order directly from the linked wholesaler,” Sanders says.

The chief executive at one National Art Shop supplier, New Orleans-based SLS Arts Inc., says extra services or products alone can help some arts industry businesses thrive.

“Some thrive with an Internet presence,” SLS President Sam Seelig says.

SLS Arts has been supplying the Springfield shop for a decade.

“In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we had 70 employees displaced here,” Seelig says. “Jean and her store extended a helping hand by gathering materials and necessities and sending them down here. I think that genuine caring goes a long way in their success.”

Seelig also believes many artists need to see and feel their supplies for inspiration and that phenomenon bodes well for National Art Shop.

The Sanderses hope he is right.

If they could draw it up, the store would see a 20 percent increase in 2010 sales.

“That will take us back to 2008 levels,” Jean Sanders says, “and make up for last year.”[[In-content Ad]]