Confirming Friday’s auctions….
Sent a little late to keep you on your toes!
Millbrae / Union City / Livermore / San Francisco:
8 Units – 9:30 Millbrae Station Self Storage 210 Adrian Road Millbrae 650-646-3525
2 Units – 10:00 Diamond Mine Storage 4400 Horner Av Union City 510-489-4747
3 Units – 11:00 Will Store Self Storage 4959 Southfront Rd Livermore 925-294-5678
1 Units – 11:30 Storage San Francisco 435 23Rd St San Francisco 415-647-5900
1 Units – 12:30 Army Street Self Storage 1100 26Th St San Francisco 415-282-0200
6 Units – 2:00 Self Storage 1 1828 Egbert Avenue San Francisco 415-508-1000
Disclosure: This is an opinionated posted representing myself, Donna and not as Sale Maker Auctions as a company
Pictures are at the end…
This is another situation where doing what we do is interesting, but can also be sad. Today we are auctioning 4 10×30 units FULL of comics, vinyl LP’s, sheet music, authentic unused Beatles tickets, great full dead memorabilia oh it goes on and on. This gentleman had a record store in SF in the 60’s….I can’t even explain what was seen in these units.
I always say when cutting locks, every unit has a story. Some obvious. (just needed a place to stash a bike & backpack) I can tell who’s died, who’s divorced, who was evicted….moved out in a hurry or spends too much money and hides it from their spouse. I tend to think I’ve seen it all, and then a new one pops up on me. When the 1st unit came up, I had no clue what it’s story was. Boxes and boxes stuffed with anything that one could ever collect.  This wasn’t a normal inventory and cut deal. I thought I’d search for the tenant name (My first time actually doing such a thing) Came across an article online and immediately it clicked…I had actually had a conversation with this tenant back in Dec. I was at the site to cut locks that day, and they hadn’t opened yet so I sat outside waiting next to a poorly dressed man who talked to himself on an off in what I thought was gibberish or German. Before I knew it his conversation really was directed at me, so I figured I should at least try to listen and nod my head as he rambled on. Eventually I tuned in and listened to him tell a story and then realized he was smarter than I had given him credit for.
He said he had to hurry up to get back to his place because the fire marshal was giving him limited time to get his things… So fast forward to May…when I googled the tenants name, a go fund me account came up with his picture at the top. And there he was. The same man that I sat with for 20 minutes wearing a red coat, the same one he wore in the photo I was now looking at.  I’ve since then have learned this tenant was/very attached to his possessions. It’s heartbreaking to have to sell such a collection for these reasons. I try to look at the bright side of the business and like to believe that when a unit goes to auction, it can also lift a burden off the tenants shoulders. To struggle to pay a bill month after month can be stressful. Hopefully this sale will lift a financial burden so that the tenant can feel less of a burden, so he try to focus more on his health and well being.
Meanwhile, to article I found online:
(NOT WRITTEN BY SALE MAKER AUCTIONS)
The man holds degrees in mathematics and psychology from UCLA and UC Berkeley. Sometime in the late 1960s, he turned his back regular vocations and started his own record store on O’Farrell Street near Larkin in the Tenderloin. He enjoyed great success at this store and he branched off into concert posters as well. It wasn’t long before Don outgrew his store and in 1985 he moved to a larger location on San Mateo Ave in San Bruno.
In spite of the higher rent, Don still excelled, and dealt with pretty much every other music memorabilia dealer who ever held a poster. Of course the rich guys ran roughshod over the poor guy, but still he hung on. 31 years he was at that location. When the building sold a couple of years ago, they tripled his rent. Still he persevered and struggled there for another year. he fell far behind on his rent and they evicted him.
By then, Don was in his late 70s and slowing down mentally. The beginnings of Alzheimer’s tinged with dementia set in. The landlord forced Don to leave his best inventory behind as part of the rent settlement Don, in his diminished capacity, agreed to.
He had to move on. He found a smaller store a few blocks away on El Camino and started over. Again, because he’s slowed down so much, he made mistakes. He stacked the store from floor to ceiling with merchandise, much of it totally unsalable. It drew the attention of the fire Marshall. The fire marshall red tagged the building.
What they didn’t know was that was also Don’s residence. Now he has fines to pay and can’t get into his store without the landlord being there and with permission from the code inspector guy. The first day the landlord can get there to watch is 12/26/16.
Any and all funds collected will be given directly to the city clerk to pay fines, to a truck rental company and to hire a crew to haul that stuff out of there. Anything left over will be given to Don for living expenses.
Why do I care? I purchased my first psychedelic concert poster from “the Record Buyer”, Don’s store. I built a nice little collection that later turned into stock for my own business, as well as made a lifelong close friend. I built and grew my business under his tutelage. I owe him for my past 25 years doing this.
I hate these begging for cash things, but some things are far more important than my pride, like the health and well being my friend. Right now, he’s crashing at my pad. Help me help him get back into his own business/pad. This means a lot to me, and especially painful given the time of year.
Thanks for reading this. any amount is helpful. Please share with your friends. Let’s get Don out of the cold.
