Janet's Auction House in Richmond was able to hold its first auction again on January 3, just a couple of months after a fire caused damage to the building.
Janet Roberts, the owner, told the Richmond Register that a customer of the auction house called her to say that smoke was coming out of the building. When Roberts reached the scene, the furniture next door to her auction shop had already lost its facade. It was a race against time as firefighters tried to put out the flames before they could spread to the adjoining stores.
Although the fire was put out before it reached the auction house, the building sustained considerable water and smoke damage. The damage was severe enough that the shop needed to close until it was safe to enter again.
For two months, Janet and her staff, a team of seven, had to sit tight and wait, instead of holding their usual Saturday auctions. Roberts and her team could consider using poster printing to announce to the streets of Richmond that the auction house is back in business.
The first auction kicked off at 6:30pm the evening of January 3, but the doors opened at 4:00 pm. After a successful first auction back in business, Roberts plans to keep holding the weekly events once again.
