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Unmotivational Posters!
So just what has happened to all the publishers of posters and prints? It only seems a short time ago when there were publishers of every kind of poster you can imagine. The International Spring Fair in Birmingham used to be the place for all the world’s leading publishers of all kinds of wall decor to gather and show off their array of posters, prints, and canvas and original paintings. You can’t imagine my shock when I walked around this year’s show in February to see only a handful of Poster publishers exhibiting. In past years there would have been an entire hall full of poster publishers and specialist picture framing companies. The halls were always vibrant and buzzing with thousands of potential customers looking to fill their stores with the latest posters on offer. So where have all these publishers gone to and where are the retail stores going to source posters and prints from now the spring fair has shrunk to just a few stands. I set off to my local High Street to ask a few store keepers what was going on in the world of posters. My first port of call was my local Art Retail Store in the shopping arcade, well it shows how often I go shopping, and the store was empty. When I enquired next door they informed me that it had gone bust nearly 2 years ago. I then walked the length of every street in the town centre but couldn’t find a single retailer selling posters or prints, when I asked a local furniture store owner he suggested I try Ikea, B&Q, Tesco or Hobby Craft. I decided to hot foot it down to the Retail Park and checkout the big sheds. We don’t have an Ikea nearby so I headed straight for Homebase, here I found a selection of picture frames but absolutely no posters or prints to put in them. How bizarre! When I asked the customer service desk the very helpful lady explained that they had never sold posters but she didn’t know why. Seems like they are missing out here, frames but no pictures! My next stop was Dunelm Mill. As we all know this is a home interiors specialist and I have to say that they did have a wide selection of framed pictures and blank frames available but again not one poster in sight. A trend is beginning to develop here and its seems completely bonkers to me, why stock blank frames and have absolutely nothing to put inside them. My next stop was B&Q and I was sure that I would find posters here in this enormous home and DIY store. How wrong I was! Again they had a great selection of blank frames but not a poster or print in site. This is what I call Unmotivational Posters! My last port of call at the out of town stores was Hobby Craft. Bingo! At last I was pleased to see an excellent offering of quality posters from Icon so posters are still being sold, albeit in only one store group. Whilst I can’t imagine this being a destination shop for posters it has been the only store that I have found so far offering anything at all, well done Hobby Craft. So what is it that has caused the demise of posters on the High Street? Perhaps the internet will hold the answers to where people now purchase their posters. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com |
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