The End of an Era

Earlier this week, the Hudson Art & Antiques Dealers Association (HAADA), which was founded in 1988 simply as the Hudson Antiques Dealers Association (HADA), announced its dissolution with the following press release:

The Hudson Art & Antiques Dealers Association (HAADA) is dissolving after 33 years in Hudson, New York.

Formed in 1988 with a group of 12 antiques dealers, at its peak around 2005, there were 65 members and associate members. Our mission statement to promote the antiques business in Hudson in general and specifically Hudson itself has been accomplished beyond our wildest dreams. However, due to attrition over the years and changes in the antiques trade, it has been decided by the remaining members that it is now time to dissolve.

The changes we have witnessed have been remarkable, and our dealer members past and present have worked hard and in so doing have seen Warren Street flourish, attracting people to Hudson’s great architecture and heritage.

Every year, HAADA produced up to 10,000 brochures which our dealers distributed at antique shows across the Northeast and in Manhattan, making Hudson a destination for dealers nationwide and those interested in antiquing and architecture. Articles in World of Interiors, Architectural Digest, Elle Décor, New York Times, New York Magazine, and many others have covered Hudson’s antiques personalities again and again, to a point where now Hudson, as a jewel of a city in the Hudson Valley, is featured in magazines worldwide and also on national television.

The balance of HAADA’s membership dues, $1,794, will be donated to Columbia County Recovery Kitchen, which provides meals for needy children.