If you’re a collector of what the English refer to as “brown furniture,” you are an endangered species. The beautiful Georgian mahogany and fruitwood pieces that grace traditional homes all over the country are most definitely “out,” and the dealers who have long depended on them are suffering. As are the antiques shows that bring them together.

“Antiques is a four-letter word,” said Meg Wendy. This is just one of the realities that faced Ms. Wendy five years ago as she took over the management of her family-owned business. Wendy Management has been a leading organizer of midlevel antiques shows for several decades, in New York and in other cities around America. In recent years, she has had to trim and reshape her company’s offerings to keep abreast of collecting trends.

The company was founded by Clifford Nuttall in 1934. Inspired by a visit to the Grosvenor House Art and Antiques Fair in London, Mr. Nuttall launched the first-ever such event in America at the Commodore Hotel in New York. It was a great success, and the first of many.

In 1959, Meg Wendy’s mother, Diane, went to work for Mr. Nuttall and in due course bought the business from its retiring founder. More accurately, her husband bought the business; Mr. Nuttall would not agree to sell to a woman. She proved him wrong by successfully expanding the company’s reach and volume.

By the late 1980s, the company’s high-water mark, it was hosting 18 shows each year. Many were in the New York area, including Westchester, Stamford, and Greenwich, but they also had events in Chicago, Boston, and Washington, D.C.

The dot-com recession in 2000 hit the antiques world hard. The impact on the typical Wendy’s buyer from stock market and job losses was enormous. “We could feel the shift,” Ms. Wendy said. “The midlevel market dried up entirely.”

At the time, the firm was managing five shows at the Seventh Regiment Armory on Park Avenue in New York. “September 11th put people over the edge, especially in New York. People rethought their priorities; suddenly any extra money was designated for taking their family on vacation. Priorities changed. We knew we had to change.”

The first decision was to cut back on the number of shows. Today, the company offers only five — four in New York at the Armory, and one long-standing event in Morristown, N.J. Each show is intended to draw a different crowd.

Ms. Wendy also decided to experiment. Realizing that the highend of the market had held up well, she chose to launch a more upscale show at the Armory. She traveled to Europe to court high-end dealers, and produced the Spring International Art & Antiques Show in 2002. ” We had to redo the Wendy name, to some degree,” said the owner.

The move was gutsy, since it meant going up against established shows, and represented a sizable investment. The International Show has had its ups and downs, with some of the dealers struggling against the drooping popularity of English antiques, but Ms. Wendy is confident. “This year we’ve turned the corner,” Ms. Wendy said. “We’ll have more 20th century this year, and better dealers.”

At the same time, she created a whole new show and look with her Design Fair, which just concluded last week. This 65-dealer show presents a little bit of everything: “It’s meant to be edgy, sexy, something fun.” Some antiques are on view, as are moderately priced artworks, and modern furniture. This event is marginally profitable, but is growing. Ms. Wendy hopes to attract 72 dealers next year.

Her newest venture is an art show, called Art on Park, to be launched in September. To prepare, Ms. Wendy has immersed herself in art fairs across the country and in Europe, getting to know dealers. This show will not compete with the high-priced exhibits currently on the New York schedule. “It’s a way to bring people into the market, to have a less intimidating art experience.”

These decisions are not taken lightly. The investment in putting on a show is considerable, and can conceivably run as high as $1 million. Wendy Management pays for the construction of the booths, the decorating, the electrical needs, and all advertising. She also pays rent to the Armory, which was recently doubled. It is now $20,000 a day, and is headed up to $30,000 a day in the fall. The amount of money spent on each show varies in relation to the quality of goods being offered. At the International Show, home to high-end dealers and well-heeled customers, Ms. Wendy requires that the dealers use fabric wall coverings and she supplies more elegant carpeting, for instance.

Her company’s revenues are simply the difference between what she charges the dealers who participate in her shows, and what she pays out to arrange the show. She gets no override or percentage of the dealers’ sales, nor does she benefit from the opening night festivities. Unless the show sells out, in terms of renting all the available booth space, she is unlikely to make a profit. As for the dealers, the costs of furnishing, decorating, and staffing their booths, as well as transporting their goods, can be considerable. If the dealers don’t do well, they don’t come back.

It’s a tough business, and with the recent aggressive rent hikes from the newly established conservancy at the Armory, it just got tougher. Ms. Wendy said she has been participating in the business since she was 3 years old. More recently, “I’ve been working 24/7 for the past five years to turn around the shows. I’ve been in the Armory for 30 years, the longest-running tenant other than the Winter Antiques Show. It’s a business that is struggling — dealers and shows alike.

“At the end of the day, we’re offering entertainment — we do shows that have no attitude, that are meant to be fun. People want to have fun when they spend money.” A recipe for success, we would wager.

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