Keystone • A Hudson, NY Original

Keystone Proprietor Jim Godman on a Summer afternoon
in front of Keystone Antiques’ massive Columbia Street warehouse.

A view into the back of Godman’s Warren Street
location. This is just aminor sampling of the variety available.

By Noah Fleisher
The attitude and enthusiasm of Jim Godman, the power behind Hudson, NY’s Keystone Antiques, is - in a word - refreshing. Never mind that he has three decades of experience in the antiques trade, or that he owns and operates the one of the biggest and most respected architectural antique shops in all of New England. Or that he has managed to keep his business consistently robust in the choppy market of the past few years.
Despite all this, despite the fact that his is an estimable opinion and that people from far and wide seek him out, Godman refuses to consider himself and expert.
“Absolutely not,” he says. “Nobody is. You think you know the business, but you don’t. My problem is that the scope of antiques is so wide, how could you ever be an expert?”
It is this take on a notoriously jaded business that has brought him such success over 30 years, the last eight of which have been spent in his well-appointed Warren Street showroom and a massive, former tennis-court building he has converted into a three-story-plus warehouse space a block away on Columbia Street. The warehouse space, by the way, has just been opened to the public for general consumption after a mammoth effort on the part of Godman and his staff
There are many secrets to Godman’s success, most of which – being a somewhat shy and definitely private man – he will not divulge. There is one, however, that he is quickly forthcoming with.
“I’ve been in this business long enough to know,” he says, “that you always have to be able to change.”
And change Godman does. He is famous in the business not only for the size of his offerings (“If it’s big and heavy,” he says, “you call me.”), and of his spaces, but also the mind-boggling variety. The influx of new materials is matched only by the progression of other inventory out the door. His is an audience of dealers, collectors, homebuyers, decorators, movie and television studios, magazines, restaurants, businesses and the occasional curious seeker.
“Sometimes people come out with their decorator,” he says, “and sometimes it’s just one on one. With all the restoration going on everywhere, (our clientele) really runs the gamut.”
It is important to note that, despite his humility, Godman does possess that most important of assets that a successful dealer needs to make a niche for themselves in such a competitive industry – a good eye.
“If you have that,” he says, “you have 60-70% of the work done. The rest of it is just to do it.”
The floor of both spaces is never static, never stale, and always packed with amazing – and usually large – architectural and interior antiques. Need an entire stone floor from a 17th century Portugese building? Godman just might have one in stock. Need massive stone lions, dogs, steel statuary or gigantic metal windows, among countless other offerings? Head to Hudson, go to Keystone, and dive in.
So varied and ever-changing is Godman’s inventory, that even he is hard pressed to say that he knows everything that he has in stock. It’s a sure bet that he has a pretty good idea where something might be if it’s requested, but it would take an encyclopedic mind on par with the proverbial elephant to know exactly what he has and where it all is. In the newly-opened Columbia Street space, for instance, he has what must a few thousand doors, from all make and era of house, as well as an equal amount, if not more, of period windows. There is garden sculpture so huge it could only be moved via forklift, and metal gates that look plucked straight from the great estate gardens of the nation. Need bathtubs, fixtures or one-of-a-kind whimsical garden sculpture? Again, this is a mere sampling. It’s no wonder that Godman has customers that come from all over the country on a regular basis and from as far away as three and four hours every weekend.
“Before, I never let the public in there,” Godman says of the year-long effort to clean up the space. “Now we have it in good order. You have to keep it simple for everybody. If they can see it, they’ll buy it.”
Impressive as the sheer size and variety of the operation is, this is only one aspect of what sets Godman apart from his competition. What he is really known for – by those in the know – and is obviously proud of, is the fairness of his pricing. It is his vivacity that keeps the inventory changing, and his sense of decency that keeps his prices as low as buyers are likely to find. Godman’s antiques, large and small, are priced to move – and move they do. He is equally enthusiastic about customers interested in the massive as he is about those perusing the mundane
“I try to be honest with people,” he says, “and fair. I think they respect that.”
Judging by the dedication of his longtime customers and the steady influx of new buyers, it’s safe to say that he is indeed respected for his business sense.
“We move a lot of volume and stay busy because I love what I do,” Godman says. “I try to keep it fun.
New trucks brimming with antiques and fresh shipments arrive on almost a daily basis at Keystone, and Godman is always making space for his new goodies. He is on the road at least two days out of every week, eyeing new finds or checking out potential inventory. He also makes a trip abroad at least once a year, usually to either Mexico, Portugal or Spain, which most certainly helps account for some of the singular things you might find on his floor on any given day. It is not about the dollar amount, or the sale, but simply about keeping his look fresh. Large or small, Godman simply wants to keep it interesting for himself and his customers.
“It’s not just about the big stuff,” he says. “I have people come in and buy a $15 doorknob, which is great, because it’s what they needed. It’s along that avenue that I’ve tried to help people. I try to give them the best example of what they want. It doesn’t matter how expensive or inexpensive it is.”
Having grown up in the antiques business – his parents were well-known dealers in Cooperstown and they help him out at Keystone even today – Godman is among the cadre of dealers that came of age in the 1970s and made their names and reputations on the back of finds at shows like Brimfield and Madison-Bouckville. In Godman’s case, he made his way to Kansas City and went to auctioneer school, becoming a full-fledged colonel (“That’s the title they give you,” he says.) before coming back East to join the vanguard of his generation of dealers.
These days he doesn’t go to Brimfield to buy so much as he used as he does to see the many old friends he has known on the fields of the legendary show for years and years.
“A lot of these shows, it’s like old home week,” he says. “I’ve only missed Brimfield three times in 31 years. I remember back before there were all these different fields and shows with specific hours. You would shop all night long with a flashlight, digging through trucks and boxes. These days it’s the only time I get to see them.”
Compared with the mid-1970s, there are not nearly as many new, young dealers entering the business. With an aging dealer population and a scarcity of good finds to be had at decent prices, Godman does not see the same kind of influx of younger buyers and dealers as he remembers from the early days of Keystone. It’s a bit of a troubling thing, Godman relates.
“It bothers me only because I grew up in the business,” he says. “I’m honestly not seeing a lot of young people who are as crazy as I was.”
There probably have not been many dealers, across all eras, who are quite as “crazy” as Godman, but his point is well-taken. He recommends investing in antiques – both as dealers and collectors – for the same reason that so many do: You rarely, if ever, lose money on antiques. And, while they do not present the immediate high yield on the initial investment as some Wall Street deals might, they also do not come with near as much risk.
As to what the future of the business might hold, Godman is hesitant to speculate. He will go so far as to say that he doesn’t see good antiques losing their value anytime soon.
There is really no more to it for most buyers and collectors than just to see Keystone. The two spaces that Keystone occupies are that rare thing in antiques – a shop that defies description due to its tremendous size and scope. To get the feel for what Godman has created, you simply have to see it.
Keystone is open Thursday through Monday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., except on Sundays, when the store is open Noon to 5 p.m.
The main Keystone store is located at 746-748 Warren Street, the very top of the venerable antiques avenue. The warehouse space is located at 620 Columbia Street.
For more information, call (518) 822-1019.
E-mail to keystone@mhcable.com
www.godmankeystone.com

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