Building Sustainable Success in Art Galleries : An Exploratory Study of Adaptive Strategies

Art galleries, which exist as a cottageindustry, like many small businesses face a very challenging and changingcompetitive environment that demands attention to strategy formation andexecution. Many galleries, though, operate as though they were immune fromtechnology and consolidation. Their traditional business model is underpressure from globalization and the Internet. Data on 132 private art galleries in Colorado were collected by mail survey.In addition to gallery and owner characteristics, data for three sets ofvariables were collected: (1) economic and technological forces affectinggallery success, (2) changes in performance, and (3) adaptive strategic levelresponses to performance change. Findings indicate gallery business is very complicated, with a mix ofdriving forces. Gallery owners and managers are relatively unconcerned aboutkey external economic and technological pressures affecting their businesses.Their perceptions are not related to changes in performance. Owners indicatedthey will continue to emphasize traditional industry strategies("high-touch" personal services). Firms with lower sales were found to implement a strategic response thatgalleries with higher sales did not. Findings suggest that small galleriesshould be alert to market penetration from larger enterprises. The World WideWeb could be a competitive advantage for small businesses. Customers arebecoming willing to complete transactions without personally seeing theobject. Indifference to external pressures could negatively affect firms' efforts tobuild sustainable success and value through adaptive strategies. Strategies canbe developed to overcome market inefficiencies and to achieve leading positionsin new competitive markets. (TNM)