There were bidders from every state in the country and almost every continent in the world Jan. 28 as bankrupt Moore-Handley’s inventory was auctioned off to the public.

Chip Pearce, auctioneer and partner with Pearce and Associates, said the nearly 10-hour auction was the largest in his 30-year career as a result of the huge inventory and the large number of bidders both on site and online.

“It was an incredible, incredible success,” Pearce said. “It was just such a huge auction to pull off.”

Pearce would not release the amount of money taken in during the auction, but he did say, “We doubled my expectations.”

“It was off the charts,” he added.

During the auction, Pearce auctioned off thousands of items, including 18-wheeler tractor-trailers, diesel trucks, forklifts and pallets of merchandise.

“It was one of those auctions where I could have divided it into 20-25 auctions,” Pearce said. “But it went smooth. We were auctioning off two to three items a minute.”

Although Pearce said it was difficult auctioning off supplies and merchandise of a now-defunct company that has meant so much to a community, he also said he feels the auction will benefit the community as merchandise purchased at the auction will go to other hardware stores, flea markets and individuals who will, in turn, resale the items.

The auction will also go a long way in speeding up the process to get another business in the Moore-Handley building located along U.S. 31.

“Somebody needed to empty the facility so some other company or investor can move in and get business going,” Pearce said.

Although he doesn’t know when a new company will move in, Pearce said the building is large enough to support several small businesses.

Not everything was sold during the Jan. 28 auction, and a second online auction will be held the third week of February for seven days on Pearce’s site, SoldAlabama.com.

Pearce said the auction will be geared more towards individuals and will consist of items in fewer quantities so that a person who needs office equipment won’t have to buy a pallet of items when they just need a few.