CARL E. FEATHER / Star Beacon
AUCTIONER GARY Heaven sells one of the hundreds of items on the block June 2 at the consignment auction he and Doug Bowers run at Kathryn Rose Party Center on North Bend Road. The weekly auction is doing a good business thanks to the recession and people looking for bargains.
Published June 06, 2009 10:10 pm - The price of admission is cheap and even if the jokes are little corny, the consignment auction at Kathryn Rose Party Center is one of the few ways to have fun in Ashtabula County on a Tuesday night without breaking the bank — unless you raise your hand too much.
SOLD! Spend some money, make some money at consignment auction
By CARL E. FEATHER - Staff Writer - cfeather@starbeacon.com Star Beacon
The price of admission is cheap and even if the jokes are little corny, the consignment auction at Kathryn Rose Party Center is one of the few ways to have fun in Ashtabula County on a Tuesday night without breaking the bank — unless you raise your hand too much.
The auction is run by Gary Heaven and Doug Bowers, who have separate auctioneer businesses but team up for the consignment sales, which began in March. The sales are held every Tuesday evening at 6 p.m.
“We try to run it like a good, old-fashioned auction,” Heaven says. “You come in, have fun and leave with a bargain.”
And a full tummy. Party center owner Kathryn Stewart offers a variety of economically priced dinners starting at 4 p.m. The menu includes chicken and meatloaf dinners for $5 each and a variety of desserts, snacks and beverages. Tables are set up at the rear of the auction hall for convenient, casual dining with friends; if you prefer, you can camp out at one of the tables during the entire auction.
There’s admission fee and you can park yourself in a chair and enjoy the air-conditioned comfort of the party center all evening without spending a dime, although it’s much more fun to get a number and bid on items.
“We try to get out here every week,” said antiques enthusiast John Carpenter. “We get something to eat and chat with our friends, and every now and then we’ll buy something.”
Carpenter and his wife Tina watched as a circa-1880 dresser with a high level of craftsmanship went for just $50 last week. “Somebody got a real bargain on that,” he said.
Heaven agrees that there are “jaw-dropping” bargains some nights, as well as some head-scratchers when the crowd gets into hot competition over a sleeper. A lot of it depends on who’s in the crowd that evening.
“We have a diverse crowd of collectors, as well as eBayers, flea marketers. We got them all,” Heaven says.
They arrive an hour or more before the auction to walk the aisles of tables and examine the merchandise consigned for that evening. Heaven says it’s their policy to mix up lots so they aren’t selling the same kind of merchandise for an hour straight.
“We like to have a good selection for everybody,” Bowers says.
“They know that at every auction we have, even if it’s just a household sale, there will be antiques mixed in,” Heave says.
Because it is a consignment auction, Bowers and Heaven never know what will show up next. The offerings last week ran from a canoe and Tiny Town toy gasoline truck to a 1930 Dart yearbook and floral designs.
Heaven says they were a little concerned about getting enough stuff to sell every week, but so far they’ve not had to cancel because of a paucity of consignments.