2008/10/06
ART galleries in East London are feeling the economic crunch, with one establishment closing its doors and another downsizing.
Sublime Living, a décor and wine lounge situated in Vincent’s Frere Road, has shut after being in business for just over a year.
Former owner Rolene Barnhoorn said there was no market for her business in East London, “especially in light of the current economic situation”. Specialising in luxury items, she said, was not worthwhile.
Experiencing a similar fate, René Goosen, owner of Vincent Art Gallery and Blends Coffee Bar, has leased out part of the Donald Road premises to make way for a restaurant to supplement her income.
Goosen will concentrate on her framing business, which will include jewellery and major contemporary art in a section of the building.
Goosen’s husband Marius said: “The economy had a lot to do with it and people are beginning to see that they need to budget.
“They need to make a decision on what they want.”
After 16 years in the business Goosen said she had accepted that it was time for change.
Gecko Gallery owner Janine Vorster said that she, too, has been feeling the pinch.
Vorster, who has been running her art gallery and framing business in Beacon Bay for the past 10 years, said that if she were to rely solely on art sales, she wouldn’t survive.
Vorster said at times they sold one painting a month but were able to make a living from their picture framing business.
But the owner of Arts Unlimited for the past 12 years, Iwona Rytel, said her business was “thriving”.
Rytel said she had noticed a change in her clientele – the people who needed to scale down their lifestyles no longer bought her art.
“The customer with an extra R300 to spend (on art) doesn’t exist anymore,” she said.
“They just don’t have the disposable income. It’s shrunk rapidly.” - By ASA SOKOPO
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