The trolley comes with a serious sidenote: When it’s awarded to a new owner, that person will need to make plans to get the trolley out. It’s so big that an exterior brick wall will likely need to be removed from the restaurant. All the other auction items need to be removed by their owners as well, but those might be a little more manageable if it’s a TV or a small stained glass window. Pieces like this antique wooden hutch or a leather couch might be harder to transport.
The restaurant is so large in size that the auction has a “staggering” number of items online, says Neal Sherman, CEO of TAGeX Brands, when compared to the company’s other auctions.
“Because everything starts at just $1 and much of it is vintage … there’s something for everyone,” he says.
Some of the sentimental items include a vintage espresso machine and a Spaghetti Warehouse branded safe. The sale is also full of kitchen equipment like a simple blender and a frozen margarita machine, plus dozens of other food prep items. Kitchen equipment is often popular with restaurateurs opening new businesses.
Sherman explains there are “two parts” to this sale, which makes it unique among the hundreds of surplus sales his company has hosted over three decades.
“One is, the traditional restaurant equipment that other restaurateurs are interested in, or foodies who want to fashion themselves as the next food network star,” he says. (We all know somebody like that.) The second part is artifacts that are special for Spaghetti Warehouse’s longtime fans. “Because of the age of the location, people have had many life events there, whether it was a prom date or a birthday party or anniversary,” Sherman says. “There’s a great deal of sentiment because of its age.”
The window of the auction is short: less than one week. Sherman says most of the bids land closer to the end of the sale.
So how much might the trolley go for? Sherman won’t even begin to guess.
“I stopped guessing on what other people thought things were of value, because I’m always wrong,” he says. “Maybe somebody’s grandfather was a captain in the Dallas trolley system and they have a sentimental link to it.”
“I’m always blown away by what people buy,” he says. “Sentiment is a personal experience.”
Author Sarah Blaskovich, Senior Food Reporter