by Mary Wilson
After 40 years, England’s Auction in Grandview will host its
final sale on Friday, February 16. Over the last four decades, hundreds of
buyers from all corners of the metro have spent their Friday evenings with Mike
England.
In 1977, England, with his brother and father, purchased the
auction business that began in 1960, at 1530 Duck Road in Grandview. Four years
later, England purchased his family’s shares of the business. England’s Auction
is the oldest operating auction house in Kansas City, a status that England is
proud of.
“We’ve probably been the best kept secret in Grandview,”
said England, a 1964 Grandview High School alum. “We have seen customers from
all over the city. We’ve had thousands of customers.”
Early on, the auctions were twice a week, but eventually the
sales were scheduled once weekly on Fridays. England’s four daughters grew up
working in the family business, and he said the work is hard but never dull.
“It’s kind of a niche business,” said England. “It’s just
what I do. I think this year I’m close to almost 2,500 auctions.”
He now sees the grandchildren of customers who used to come
to the auctions years ago. Most weeks, England said he sees roughly 200 people
on Friday nights, and some of them are repeat customers who have reserved
seating.
England’s Auction received most of their items to sell from
estates, moving sales and storage delinquencies. England’s was the first
auction company in the area to sell storage, and he handled the advertising and
public notices for the warehouses. “I have contracts with storage companies all
over the city,” said England. “There’s quite a bit of stuff involved with that.
There’s a lot of trash. It’s evolved so much; there are now thousands of mini
storage units.”
England’s Auction hauls the contents to their facility and
prepares them for the weekly auctions. Each week on Mondays, England has walked
into a nearly-empty building and is tasked with filling it with auction items
in three days. Items sold run the gamut
from household items to furniture. England says they don’t sell anything
pretentious and it’s never been fancy. Some nights England’s has done $200,000
in sales, and other nights $4,000.
“I’m probably the craziest auctioneer in Kansas City,” said
England. “People come here for entertainment. Years ago, the Mayor would come
up and hold stuff for me; then it was the Chief of Police. A lot of people know
who we are.”
He doesn’t plan to retire completely, and will continue to
piddle with auctioneering now and again. With his children grown, he is looking
forward to spending some quality time with his wife of 51 years, Sheila.
“We’ve had only one vacation in 40 years,” said England.
“When you work for yourself, you’re pretty much married to the business.”
According to England, his building has been sold to a local
real estate rehabilitation company. As he prepares for the doors to close for a
final time on Friday, England said that leaving his 40-year business is a
little bittersweet because he built the company and it’s as if his best friend
is dying.
“An auctioneer is a bit like a doctor,” said England. “All
these people, they think I’m their best friend. Though, I’m not sure I’d want
to invite them to dinner. But this business becomes personal. I wanted to quit
while I was still vertical.”
When people would ask England how business was doing, he
would always say, “It’s as good to me as I am to it.” He believes that if he
wasn’t good to England’s Auctions, it wouldn’t have been good to him. Many
folks in the community have spent their Friday nights at the auction, and
England’s business has certainly been good to Grandview for 40 years.
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