By Stan Linhorst

Director of New Media - Syracuse Newspapers "Web Site of the Week"

This story was published Sept. 25, 1998, in The Post-Standard and the Herald-Journal. Copyright (c) 1998, The Syracuse Newspapers. Used with permission.

The man was in Seattle. His wedding anniversary was the next day. His wife had her heart set on Roycroft metal work. In a panic, he turned to the Web. Three time zones away, he found Dalton's American Decorative Arts on James Street in Syracuse. Relieved at the inventory he saw, he called Dave and Debbie Rudd at Dalton's and described what he wanted. Dalton's had it; Rudd took a picture with a digital camera and e-mailed it to Seattle. In a few minutes, the man was back on the phone, giving Rudd a credit-card number and Federal Express authorization number. It was a quick $500 sale. Rudd says buyers are turning to the Internet more often to find what they want, and he expects these kinds of sales to grow.

The site went up in January. Its biggest sale has been a Gustav Stickley bookcase sold to a new customer in California for $8,500. To meet demand, about 150 of Dalton's notable Arts and Crafts pieces are shown online. The site carries descriptions, prices and photos for furniture made by Gustav Stickley and others, metal work, lighting, prints, linen and pottery. "Our Web site helps us stay in tune with the needs of our clients as well as introduce us personally and directly to new customers," Rudd says. "I look at our Web site as more than just an advertisement. We try to make it an educational experience.

"Not only do we include many photos of rare and important pieces from the American Arts and Crafts movement, we also try to regularly update the section on historic information written during the period and published in Gustav Stickley's Craftsman Magazine." An excerpt from "The Craftsman," a magazine devoted to the Arts and Crafts movement and. published from October 1901 to December l9l6, goes online every couple of months. Previous excerpts remain available. Rudd is no computer buff; but he's focused on using new tools to sell antiques. He bought a digital camera and learned how to use it. He became fluent in e-mail and attaching files. 'For the Web site, he turned to Larry Webb of DesignNet in Cazenovia. Now, the digital technologies seem matter-of-fact tools. "I paid for the camera in the first month", Rudd says. "We're in business, and it's part of doing business"