Prime land in Calera on the corner of highways 31 and 22 was sold at a June auction.

Bud Peoples, owner of Bud’s Country Store and the land Bud’s and Zapopan sits on an adjacent lot, sold some of the land to the highest bidder, Eddie Lumpkin of Pelham for $705,250.

The land where Bud’s Country

Store is located and the adjacent lot were sold.

Zapopan and its lot were also up for auction, but the price offered at auction was not enough to sell.

The auction was conducted by The National Auction Group, Inc. of Gadsden, a company that specializes in the auction of quality, high-end properties.

Lumpkin outbid eight other participants in the auction.

All were required to bring $50,000 in certified funds in order to participate in the auction.

John Marshall of Marshall and Associates, a public relations firm that works with The National Auction Group, said that the $50,000 is required so that the owner of the land knows that the highest bidder will be able to pay for the property.

&uot;They received it (the $50,000) all back if they weren’t the highest bidder,&uot; he said. &uot;It is an assurance to the auctioner that the high bidder has the money to buy the [land].&uot;

The auction was held on-site and, according to Marshall, was everything an auction is pictured to be.

&uot;When you register, you are given a paddle with your bidder number,&uot; he said.

Bud’s Country Store, a convenience store with new gas tanks and high-tech pumps, generates well above average revenues compared to similar facilities.

The commercial-zoned land is less than one mile from the Wal-Mart Super Center and a soon-to-be-built YMCA Supersport Center