Auction company to lease space to vendors

HAYDEN - What has for years been a once-a-week auction house on Thursday will become a seven-day-a-week retail operation.

Showcase Auctions will continue to hold sales each Friday evening, but the former office spaces at the front of the building are being turned into Showcase Resale Center, with spaces leased to several different vendors.

"Several regular buyers with booths at other malls approached me about having a gallery-type mall," said Clint Cord, owner of the property and business for the past eight years.

The real estate, property management and escrow offices that have been closed for several years are being converted to offer what Cord calls a more diverse variety of items than what he calls the "overpriced junk" that passes for antiques at some shops.

"We picked the best of what works at other vendor malls," he said.

The five-acre parcel north of Hayden at 12551 N. Government Way was originally built as an RV dealership, but did not last long. Cord bought it after a fire broke out in the shop of the dealership. That building will remain as the auction center, but his plans for the site will depend on several factors.

One is the outcome of the property being offered for sale. Some potential buyers have expressed interest in offering it for a lease-back arrangement. If the new plan, which includes a summer outdoor flea market and parking for private sales of vehicles including boats and RVs, proves to be a success, Cord said he will consider looking for another building to continue the operation.

"There are plenty of empty ones," he said.

A sign of the times was an auction of fine art held between Thanksgiving and Christmas, that included $100,000 worth of works from artists such as Bev Doolittle and Stephen Lyman, donated by an estate to benefit North Idaho College scholarship funds.

"It was a financial dud," Cord said.

Many of those paintings, around 20 total," will remain on the walls of the shop until they are sold.

While the focus will be on "eclectic, pretty fancy, fun stuff," rather than antiques, there is a good selection of old radios and furniture, and James Thompson, a former antique dealer from California, is taking one of the rooms, being filled with paintings and a 1930s-vintage hand-cranked hurdy gurdy mounted on a small cart.

Other vendors will offer Northwest-style carved goods and decor, along with dolls, figurines, toys, tools and collectibles.

One thing Cord does not want to see is merchandise getting stale, and is asking vendors to "price things fairly."

"I don't want people to come in here once, and see the same thing a month later," he said. "I want to see a rotation."

Cord's former office is being converted for a display of some of the items he purchased at his own auctions over the years, such as Western frontier items and photos.

"I buy fun stuff, crazy stuff," he said.

Out back, a 30-foot by 60-foot greenhouse is available and Cord is considering the possibilities that offers for sale of plants or related items.

One thing he wants to make clear is that the rumors of the closing of the business are at best premature. Some items have been slow coming in, but he is committed to the April 1 opening, even if some rooms are still not completed.

Showcase Resale Center will have a couple of employees operating the shops, while vendors will also rotate services.

Hours of operation will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays.

Information: 772-810 or online at www.showcaseauction.com