Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 20, 1994                   TAG: 9403210195
SECTION: HOMES                    PAGE: E-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JANA SOELDNER DANGER KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE: FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.                                LENGTH: Medium

ANTIQUES ENTER THE COMPUTER ERA

It lets antique lovers track dealers and items nationwide, much as auto dealers use computers to search for cars and parts.

Casper's database lists about 5,000 dealers plus private collectors in the United States, including Puerto Rico. About 35,000 dealers do business in the United States.

The network's listings are divided into categories: buyers, sellers and service people, such as restorers and refinishers.

Collectors can search for a specific item, or for dealers who carry particular kinds of antiques, such as rugs or glassware. They also can search for dealers in specific locations, according to ZIP or area codes.

Casper, who owns a shop with about 800 antiques, developed the database a year and a half ago after realizing he couldn't keep enough inventory to have the right piece for every customer. Often, collectors were looking for specific items.

"People would come into the shop and ask for a French armoire or a zebra rug, virtually everything from A to Z," Casper said. "Often I wouldn't have it, because you never have enough money to keep everything in inventory."

Startup costs were minimal. Casper had never used a computer for business when he bought his first PC. "The more I read and found out," he said, "the more I realized there was a whole new market out there."

The antiques database cost about $1,500 to compile, plus Casper hired a programmer and part-time marketer. He also added three more PCs and hired two people to answer phones and enter data.

Low start-up costs and low overhead quickly put the business in the black. "We made money from day one," Casper said.

Casper enters information from trade publications and dealers who want their wares listed. He hasn't been charging the dealers, but plans to start doing so this summer.

The network has about 200 subscribers, he said, plus daily phone and walk-in business.

Casper's staff does most of the computer searches for the customers. "By nature, antique collectors aren't technologically oriented," Casper said. "Only about 1 percent have computers."

And until recently, the network used a search program that was cumbersome for subscribers to access. It required Casper to put the program on a disk, which was then loaded into the subscriber's computer. Updates could be accessed through a modem.

Now, Casper uses a program that gives direct access to subscribers with a modem and password. Dealers will be able to make inventory changes in the same way.

Barbara Van Fleet, a Fort Lauderdale collector of antique marble, recently used the network to search for dealers in other states. "I don't have a lot of patience going to garage sales," she said. "I get tired of antique shows, and shopping with dealers is discouraging. Down here in Florida, there just aren't many marbles."

Sandy Cimaglia, owner of Carousel Antiques, a group of three shops in Dania, likes Casper's enterprise. "We're treasure hunters," she said, "and the network definitely helps. If a client wants a particular item, and I don't have it, I can search for it."

Cimaglia also likes the idea of being able to list her own inventory. "People all over the world are looking for things," she said. "It's like a real estate broker putting together buyer and seller."

Not everyone agrees.

Carlos Hernandez, owner of Antique Rug Buyers of Florida in Hollywood, doubts that Casper can keep his listings current.

"The inventory of a major dealer changes daily," he said. "They don't have their items long enough for them to stay in a listing."

He sees other drawbacks, too: "With antiques, pricing has a lot to do with condition, and you can't catalog that. I have to see what I'm buying."

But, he added, "It's another tool, and a smart dealer uses every available tool."

Marc Wiesel, who owns Athena Gallery in Dania, Fla., was dubious, too. "It's not like car parts," he said. "You have to see an antique."

Besides, Wiesel said, many collectors enjoy poking around antique shops. A lot of people buy on impulse, simply because something strikes their fancy, he said.