I love posters, and I love talking about posters. I’ve written before about how restrained I feel I have to be when folks walk in to the gallery, because if I’m not careful, I begin to see their eyes glaze over as the flow of poster-related words and anecdotes washes over them like a tidal wave of TMI (too much information).

It is therefore not surprising that one of my greatest gallery pleasures is the moment when I recognize that the person standing in front of me is – or has become – as captivated by my posters as I am. Sometimes this happens reluctantly: this week a family from Israel walked in, spurred by the Mom. I could tell that the two teenagers in tow were really not into visiting (another) gallery, but somehow, by the time I had gone through all the posters on our table (that usually takes about ½ an hour), the 16 year old boy was so into posters that he said he’d like to work in a gallery like L’Affichiste someday. Success! Another convert*…

In addition to selling on our brick-and-mortar gallery, we also have a thriving on-line business. We sell through our own site (laffichiste.com), on Ebay, through another site called fineartsamerica, and on a fantabulous site called One Kings Lane.

OKL (as we like to call it), was started by two entrepreneurial woman (you can read about them here) in 2009. It’s a company with an interesting business model, corporate revenues of $200 million/year, and a varied and interesting merchandising mix. OKL has 6 million members (you have to join to be able to view items on the site, and you can do so by going here), who feverishly check the site every day to check in on what’s new, what’s hot and what they just have to buy, TODAY.

Shortly after OKL launched, a client told me that it was her latest addiction. I thought OKL would be a great fit for our products, and although it took two years of perseverance, when we finally found a recipe that worked, it was magic: for OKL we have developed a mix of items (smalls, some framed, some not, as well as posters and other period pieces that fix perfectly into their merchandise mix) that are suitable for almost any interior design project. On OKL we offer merchandise that (generally) is not available in store, so if you’re looking for something you can’t find on laffichiste.com, chances are if you look at our selection on OKL, you’ll find it there. (They only operate in the US, so if you’re one of our Canadian or international fans, you’ll be out of luck …)

We continue to look for as many viable distribution channels as we can: after all, just think of how many folks are left to convert (kind of makes me feel like the chick in the white shirt, here) into poster lovers!

*I worry that when I try to convert someone into a poster lover I will be taken for as much of a lunatic as this guy. BTW, Who is Charice?