Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers , is conducting a complete dispersal auction for George Schmid Sons, Inc., a family-owned excavation business founded in 1958 and based in Washougal, Washington.
The unreserved public auction, to be held on Friday, July 31, 2009 starting at 8:00 a.m., will be located at 13910 SE Mill Plain – the former property of the city’s airport. More than 700 items of equipment will be sold for more than 50 equipment owners. Each item will be sold to the highest bidder on auction day with no minimum bids or reserve prices. The Vancouver, WA auction marks the return of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers to the city after more than 12 years.
“The main package of equipment we’ve signed for the sale is quite diverse and exceptionally well-maintained,” said Rob Giroux, Regional Manager, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers. More than 400 pieces of the 700 equipment items being sold in the auction are part of the dispersal for George Schmid Sons. Equipment being sold for the company after more than 50 years in operation includes: loader backhoes, wheel loaders, skid steer loaders, motor graders, articulated dump trucks, crawler tractors, screen plants, crushers as well as pickup, flatbed, water, dump and utility trucks.
“We’re very excited to do this complete dispersal for George Schmid Sons. They are a reputable and respected leader in the excavation industry and have also been a long-time Ritchie Bros. customer – both as a buyer and a seller,” said Giroux. The company first sold equipment through Ritchie Bros. in a 1995 Olympia unreserved auction and then began buying equipment at Ritchie Bros. auctions in 1999.
According to Kevin Schmid, President of George Schmid Sons, Inc., the ability to draw a large audience of potential buyers prompted the company’s decision to sell its equipment through Ritchie Bros. “Ritchie Bros. has the pull to attract people from the local area to come out to its auctions as well as the capacity to reach a market of global buyers through the internet,” Schmid said. “We thought we could get the best of both worlds that way.”
While Ritchie Bros. has a permanent auction site in Olympia, WA – one of 39 around the world – the Company has also conducted a large number of off-site sales in the Northwest U.S. as demand for equipment sales have grown. “Last year we conducted a total of eight off-site sales in the region,” said Giroux. “These sales present a great opportunity to expose our unreserved auction business to those people who might not otherwise make it to an auction at one of our permanent sites – this way they get to see who we are and what we do. We look forward to welcoming both new and existing customers to our unreserved public auction in Vancouver on July 31st.”
Auction details: —————- – Location: 13910 SE Mill Plain, Vancouver, WA 98684 – Sale Site Phone: +1.360.944.5756 – Time and date: Friday, July 31, 2009 starting at 8:00 a.m. – Open to the public; registration to bid is free – Interested buyers can register to bid in person or over the internet days before the auction. Visit the auction site to register to bid in person; photo I.D. is required. Customers can inspect, test and compare equipment during regular business hours in the weeks leading up to the auction – Internet bidders must register online before auction day at www.rbauction.com; at least 2-3 business days is recommended for first-time internet bidders – Equipment details, including photos, are available on the Ritchie Bros. web site www.rbauction,com