It recently opened a 65-acre site in Tipton, California, another in Narita City, Japan, and is also opening sites in Chilliwack, Canada and Caorso, Italy.
The opening auction at Tipton attracted 1,300 people, with 1,800 from 16 countries registered to bid online or in person in the auction. The site was previously operated by Martella Auction Company, which Ritchie Brothers acquired in late 2009.
The Chilliwack, British Columbia facility will open on 24 March, and replace Ritchie Brothers’ former Surrey permanent auction site. At 24 acres, the new site is around three times the size of the Surrey facility, allowing it to serve more bidders and consignors, and host a larger selection of equipment, Ritchie Brothers said.
“Our new Chilliwack site is a world-class auction facility that will attract people from around the world. It features a 28,000 sq ft auction building with two auction theatres and capacity for more than 900 people,” said Adam Pruss, area manager, Ritchie Brothers.
The Natira City facility is Ritchie Brothers’ first permanent site in Japan, and has already proved a success, the auctioneer said. Some 550 bidders registered to take part in the company’s inaugural Japanese auction on 27 January, with interested bidders from 32 countries including those in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and other parts of Asia.
“We started our auction business in Canada more than 50 years ago and today we now have 41 auction sites around the world,” said Rob Mackay, president of Ritchie Brothers.
“As we have expanded our global footprint around the world, we have seen a lot of our customers sourcing equipment from Japan. These same customers have been asking us to hold our unreserved public auctions here in Japan too. So, after many years, we are pleased to now be able to service local Japanese consignors and our global buyers from this great Narita facility.”
