Auction house outgrows old premises and moves to town centre

Ali and Quentin de Groot, Kauri House Auctions owners. Photo/ File

Business for Kauri House Auctions is going so well they have decided to move to bigger, brighter premises in the heart of Hastings city centre.

Kauri House Auctions does not specialise in anything, offering a mixed bag of general items, estate clearance, tools, motor vehicles, commercial, onsite auctions and appraisals.

Owners Quentin and Ali de Groot have owned Kauri House Auctions for the past three years, and before the move to 408 St Aubyns Street East Hastings the auction house was located in Havelock North.

Quentin said the new place is "bigger, brighter with a wonderful road frontage".

In the previous premises however, it was a different story.

"We were in a one window, a door, warehouse before. The previous building also did not have any ability to have signage out front.

"No one knew we were there.

"But business is going so well for us we outgrew the unit in Havelock North and decided it was time to move to the next level.

"We've got a lovely retail place now. It's very exciting."

The Kauri House Auctions have a loyal following and Quentin is sure most of them will follow the duo to the new premises.

"We have a really nice relationship with our regulars and most will follow us here.

"It would be nice to see some new faces as well."

Wednesday is the viewing day at the auction house and primed to be very busy.

"People view the items and leave an absentee bid. It's a very common practice."

The first auction in the new premises will be on Thursday at 10am and expected to take a couple of hours.

"We've got a very mixed auction of general household stuff."

The most expensive item he's ever sold at auction was a Peter McIntyre painting, which fetched a whopping $33,000.

Quentin hopes the Thursday auction will be as well received.

The Kauri House Auctions is Quentin and Ali de Grout's first business: "We have wanted to buy a business for a long time," she said.

His career was in the motor industry, selling Ferrari, Maserati, Volkswagen and Mercedes in Auckland and most recently selling Skoda and Audi for EuroCity in Napier.

Ali worked part time for the Hastings District Council's rural fire service before she took the auction-house reins.