WICHITA — There’s an auction sign at the former Integrity Auto Group space on East Douglas, but the building isn’t being auctioned.
Current tenant Valero, which subleased to the auto company, is auctioning some miscellaneous items at the space.
Valero’s lease is up next month at Sunburst Plaza at 1725, which is Phil Ruffin’s property at 1725 E. Douglas.
That part of the building is available for lease.
WICHITA — The Jack’s North Hi Carryout auction was today, but it didn’t sell – yet.
The highest bidder declined to proceed with the sale, which is unusual but not unheard of.
McCurdy Auction is still working with potential buyers, including one in particular, who were at the auction.
Since the building across from North High School is still for sale, other interested buyers who weren’t at the auction still have time to buy as well.
WICHITA — Jack’s North Hi Carryout owner Austin Herron and McCurdy Auction auctioneer Megan McCurdy would like to get one thing clear before the April 11 auction of the business.
When Herron bought the business at auction in 2010, it sold for $116,600 – not $106,000 as the previous owner said. It looks like a buyer’s premium or some other real estate fee accounts for the discrepancy.
McCurdy says a lot has changed since the last time the business sold.
“The business is in a different condition today.”
She says there have been improvements to the building and the equipment in it.
“He’s really turned it around,” McCurdy says of Herron.
She says personal reasons are prompting him to sell.
“He’s not leaving for the sake of it not doing well. In fact, he’s got a good demand. I’ve been in there, and it’s been very busy.”
UPDATED — After decades and decades with only a couple of owners, Jack’s North Hi Carryout has been in a fairly constant state of transition for the last decade.
Current operator Austin Herron has hired McCurdy Auction to auction the building across from North High School on April 11.
“He is planning on going back to school,” says Ramona Herron, who bought the building in 2010 for her grandson to run the restaurant. She paid $116,600 for it.
Herron says her grandson is helping her with an ill family member as well.
“He thought, well, he can’t do all three,” she says.
Even before he decided to sell, Ramona Herron says her grandson fielded inquiries from people interested in buying the piece of Wichita history. The restaurant opened in 1951 and was an immediate hit.
“There’s been a lot of people … come in and ask him about it,” Herron says. “A lot of them have tried to get the money but can’t.”
The restaurant has been closed for several days for spring break but is reopening Wednesday.
Herron says her grandson plans to keep the restaurant open until the auction.
And if it doesn’t sell?
“Well, he’ll keep it open until it does.”
Nazir Jesri, left, and his brother Ammar Jesri of Absolute Natural Stones are now running an online auction company at their store on East Kellogg.
UPDATED — Brothers Nazir and Ammar Jesri, who own Absolute Natural Stones, are reviving an online auction company they incorporated in 2009.
“We just brought it back to life,” Nazir Jesri says of Auction House LLC, which does business as BidKansas.com. “We’re starting that with a bang.”
He says “it’s like eBay, but it’s right here.”
Jesri says he used to use Purple Wave for online auctions.
“I was using the auctions to auction stone in the off season,” he says. “We lost money the first two auctions, but I kept at it.”
Eventually, he says, Purple Wave informed him that what he was selling was too small to continue trying to sell through its site.
“By the time they dropped us … we were doing really good.”
After looking for other options and not finding anything he thought would work, Jesri decided to start his own company.
“We did a little research, and we found an auction software company that leases the software,” he says.
Next, he negotiated for warehouse space to start the business. When that didn’t immediately work out, he decided to wait on the idea.
Since then, he’s decided he doesn’t need to take possession of merchandise to be auctioned, so he doesn’t need a warehouse. The business will be based at the stone company, which is at 10909 E. Kellogg.
UPDATED — It was about this time two years ago that Sedgwick County decided to sell its property at the northwest corner of Washington and Waterman. Now, it’s finally happened.
LRICO Services LLC purchased the land for $297,000 at auction on Wednesday.
LRICO stands for Leslie Rudd Investment Co. The company owns the building on Waterman next to what it purchased.
The county bought 50,415 square feet in 2007 to make improvements to the intersection in advance of Intrust Bank Arena opening.
The county briefly considered using the lot for parking or something else but decided to sell it instead. It rejected at least one earlier offer before holding the auction this week.
It’s not clear what LRICO might do with the property. A representative declined comment.
WICHITA — Dean and Becky Bussart hope to sell their office at 5050 E. Central, where their Bussart Realty & Auction Service has been for more than 40 years, but it’s not because they’re going out of business.
“We’re not hanging it up or anything like that,” Dean Bussart says.
It’s because they do a lot of work from home these days, and he says it’s hard trying to do business out of both places. Whatever they need for paperwork always seems to be at the other place.
“Actually, we kind of live both places, you might say,” Dean Bussart says.
The firm doesn’t do much brokerage work anymore.
“We really concentrate on appraisal work now and have been for quite some time.”
In 1970, Bussart converted the 3,000-square-foot building, which is between Oliver and Edgemoor, from a fourplex apartment with a 4-car detached garage to office space with two apartments in the back. He continues to rent those to residential tenants.
On May 3, the Bussarts will auction the building on site along with two other properties.
“It’s a real, real good building,” Dean Bussart says. “It’s been wonderful for us. It really has.”
WICHITA — A new auction house debuts in Wichita Saturday.
“Tomorrow’s the big day,” says Josh Ricketts.
He and Dick Challacomb are opening PB&J Auction and Oddities in Delano at 1600 W. Douglas. That’s across from the Wichita Fish Co.
“We just wanted to raise the bar a little bit and have an auction house that has more antiques … more unique and odd things where you can come in and enjoy a fun environment,” Ricketts says.
PB&J, which his 8-year-old daughter, Reagan, helped name after peanut butter and jelly, will sell new and antique furniture, early 20th-century memorabilia, medical memorabilia and antique advertising.
The company also will handle major estate sales and offer certified appraisal services.
Ricketts says PB&J also will offer consultation on antique pieces for free.
Auction previews will be every Saturday at 10 a.m. Auctions will follow from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Ricketts has been a manager at Kohl’s and JCPenney for the last 15 years.
Challacomb has Dick’s Junque & Treasures at 53rd and Seneca.
Ricketts says he wants people to know PB&J is a safe and reliable auction house.
“We’re going to make sure you understand what you’re getting when you walk out the door,” he says.
The important thing, he says, is that people come in and “know it’s a friendly place.”
Butler Community College raised a record $140,000 at its annual foundation auction Friday.
Almost as importantly, there were no scooter accidents.
Butler president Jackie Vietti rode a Piaggio scooter onto the stage before it went up for bid.
It had foundation executive director Keri Myers a little concerned.
“We were intensely hoping that she wouldn’t get the throttle and brakes interchanged and crash through the head table.”
WICHITA — There’s an auction of the late George Poulos’ estate Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Malone Auction Center at 922 E. Central.
“It’s not a big, big estate, but there are some cool things,” says Eric Malone of Malone & Associates Auctioneers & Realtors.
Along with furniture and art, there are some more unusual items, such as an 8-foot Statue of Liberty.
“He was big on civil liberties,” Malone says.
There are a lot of copies of Poulos’ second book, “The Rascal Is Back.”
“He dubbed himself a rascal because he had hundreds of run-ins with the law,” Malone says. Some of those “run-ins” involved arson.
The second book cover features a police officer chasing Poulos with a billy club while a building burns in the back.
“We actually have the original cover art for some of the books,” Malone says.
There’s also a desk once owned by Wichita attorney Warner Moore, whom Malone says was known for representing a few “rascals.”
See more auction items here.