Monday auctions move to weekend

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), May 17, 2005 by JIM BAINBRIDGE THE GAZETTE

After 84 years of taking bids only on Mondays, Ross Auction -- the oldest business of its kind in Colorado -- has moved its weekly auctions to Saturdays.

And although the first five weeks of Saturday auctions have not increased attendance above its average 250 customers a week, owner Bill Neal is convinced that the shift eventually will increase traffic by 50 percent.

"We just woke up one day and decided that life has changed, the economy has changed, and it might be time for us to try something different," Neal said. "By changing the date, more people are available to come to the auctions; it just made sense."

Neal did not make the decision lightly. He knew founder W.M. Ross had set the auctions-on-Monday format when the store opened in 1921, and that it remained a tradition under W.M.'s son, Jack, who took over in 1947, and then under Jack's widow, Marie, when she took over in 1967.

O'Neal, a Houston transplant, and his wife, Paula, bought the business from Marie Ross in 1998.

"We understand that people can be resistant to change regardless of whether it's a hair- cut or where you buy your hot wings," Neal said. "So we let our regular customers know a month in advance what we were doing, and we've done a lot of advertising. We've really had a very smooth transition."

Ross Auction typically handles 800 to 1,000 items a week, everything from knickknacks to the $160,000 Philadelphia Chippendale chair it sold to twins Leslie and Leigh Keno from "Antiques Roadshow."

The firm also handles the Impound Vehicle Auction for the Colorado Springs Police Department and occasional sales for The Broadmoor.

Saturday's regular 1 p.m. auction will include antiques, furniture, electronics, a carrousel horse and a polar bear rug.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0126 or bainbird@gazette.com