Kidd family holds consignment auctions in Creemore
Auctioneer Dennis Kidd moves through rows of furniture set up at the Creemore arena amidst a throng of potential buyers Saturday.
On this particular day there is jewellery, dishes, old games and a little of what seems like everything up for grabs.
Kidd Family Auctions has recently started holding regular consignment auctions in Creemore but they host all kinds of events in the area, from farm sales to estate auctions.
The process usually begins with a visit from Kidd who assesses the items and advises the owner of what could be sold at auction. Interesting and unusual is how he describes items that sell best. While there is a continued interest in memorabilia such as toys and gas station collectibles he doesn’t always know what people are going to want because sometimes it depends on what is nostalgic for a specific buyer.
“If you take people who are 60-70 years old, the toys they played with when they were kids, that’s what they want now, like tin toys and stuff like that, or things that remind them of their childhood. Even china and glassware but specifically things they had when they grew up now they want that back for the memory,” said Kidd.
He said a full set of china is hard to sell but individual items, if people are nostalgic about it, could be popular. China cabinets and dining room suites are harder to sell these days because people just don’t have formal dining rooms in their modern homes.
Kidd said he is still surprised by buying patterns and new trends.
Kidd Family Auctions truly is a family business with three generations involved, including Kidd’s parents Nancy, who clerks, and John, who helps with set-up, and his two children Callen, 15, who helps during the sales and set-up, and Dora, who at 16 manages the office and works as cashier and registrant. Also on the team is Lyn Grose, who is not a family member but does administrative work and marketing in addition to a lot of other duties, said Kidd.
Kidd comes from a family of Melancthon farmers and as a young man he showed an interest in auctioneering after attending farm auctions with his father.
“Even before I could recall, my parents tell me that I used to come home from a sale and try to imitate the auctioneer,” said Kidd.
His parents encouraged him to pursue it as a career and in 1995 he graduated from the Southwestern Ontario School of Auctioneering. For 21 years, in addition to farming, Kidd has been working auctions, gaining experience with other companies and then five years ago he partnered with another auctioneer to form Kidd and Kates Auctioneers and last year formed Kidd Family Auctions.
The next Creemore auction is scheduled for Sept. 10. For information about other upcoming auctions, visit kiddfamilyauctions.com.
