Auburn auction upgrades pledged
Auto park’s buyer to cut ticket prices, pay sellers promptly
Less than a month after Canadian auction house RM Auctions announced the purchase of beleaguered Kruse International, the company rolled out formal plans Thursday for the upcoming Auburn collector car auction.
The new subsidiary, Auctions America by RM, announced the Auburn Fall Collector Car Auction, with nearly 500 cars lined up for the event, which will run from Sept. 2 through 5. Tickets for the event at the auction park along Interstate 69 are also less expensive than in years past, an effort to make it affordable for families, officials said.
In preparation for the Labor Day weekend event, a staple in DeKalb County since the 1970s, Auctions America by RM budgeted $1.5 million in renovations for the auction park that will include new asphalt for the parking lots and repairs and a fresh coat of blue paint on the buildings, according to a release.
This month, Dean Kruse sold what was left of Kruse International – the 235-acre auction park – to the Canadian company. The sale came after a tumultuous year for Kruse, 68, who is fighting accusations and lawsuits from creditors and collector car consigners.
In May, the Indiana Auctioneer Commission suspended Dean Kruse’s auction license and revoked the license for the company. At the time, he was searching for a buyer for the remaining assets.
Auctions America by RM officials made it clear neither Dean Kruse nor any of his companies had any interest in Auctions America, the auction or the park. Industry experts at the time said the sale to RM Auctions was the only possible way to revive the auction event and restore the brand.
It seems to be working, according to statements by company officials.
“Based on the impressive volume of enthusiastic inquiries we regularly receive, we anticipate Auctions America’s upcoming Labor Day sale will be a huge success with clients secure in the knowledge that the auction will be conducted in a highly professional manner,” said Ed Cepuran, chief financial officer of Auctions America by RM.
“Given the history of our new location, we appreciate the fact that we need to boost the confidence of both buyers and sellers in the auction process at Auctions America’s inaugural event. To that end, we have proactively set up client accounts with Comerica bank to provide prompt payment within five business days of the purchasers’ payment clearing our bank account,” he said.
Auctions America by RM wants to show collector car consigners they can consign their cars to the event without fear, said Kerrey Kerr-Enskat, spokeswoman for the company.
There are no official ties this year between the auction and the annual Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival, although RM Auctions made a donation to the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum, Kerr-Enskat said.
“We’re new in town and haven’t had a relationship with the festival in the past like we had with the museum,” she said, adding that after the company gets the first auction out of the way, it will investigate the possibility of a relationship.
For now, the excitement is building.
“We’re all just busy, very, very busy. We can’t wait till Labor Day,” Kerr-Enskat said. “Failure is not an option, when we say we’re going to do something, we’re going to do it. And well. We’re definitely doing to do it well.”
With the number of U.S. troops touching down in Afghanistan continually escalating throughout the summer, Chad Clements was as nervous about war as anyone else would be, his family said.