Full Text:

LINCOLN AND REMMEY JOIN FORCES

(with 2 cuts)

ORANGE, N.J. -- Lincoln Galleries, of Orange, and Remmey Galleries of Summit,

two of New Jersey's leading antiques auction houses, are joining forces.

As of February 1, the Remmey offices will be moved and all business will be

performed under the Lincoln banner at the latter firm's 65,000 square foot

facility at 225 Scotland Road.

Reg Blauvelt will retain his position as president and Carolyn Remmey will

begin her duties as vice president in charge of marketing and sales. Remmey

will also serve as senior appraiser and join Blauvelt as auctioneer at Lincoln

monthly auctions.

Lincoln was formed in 1887 and was among the founding members of the

Appraisers Association of America. The firm joined Mayflower Moving and

Storage in 1930 and, with 68 years of experience, has a unique ability to

auction estates as well as transport them. Lincoln also has a retail furniture

and fine art restoration shop, staffed by a group of European craftsmen.

In recent months, Lincoln sold a Philadelphia highboy for $85,000 and a

collection of 150,000 vintage baseball cards, found in an attic in seven full

trunks. The owners turned down a $43,000 retail offer for the collection;

Lincoln netted them $77,000.

Remmey Galleries was established as an antiques and consignment shop 11 years

ago and quickly became a Summit mainstay. They began holding auctions in 1993,

and by 1997 their auctions were so well attended they were forced to triple

the size of the auction house facility. One year later it became apparent to

Carolyn Remmey that she once again needed a larger space.

Remmey is known for their specialty auctions, specifically of Wedgwood, haute

couture and Oriental rugs. In addition to her role as president and senior

appraiser at the firm, Carolyn also dedicates her time for lectures,

publications and the media. She hosts her own TV show, Attic Treasures, and

appears as a guest appraiser on Chubb's Antiques Roadshow.

When asked why he decided to merge with Remmey, Reg T. Blauvelt, III

responded, "I have been reading so much about Carolyn in the papers, I thought

that she must be doing something right and decided that I wanted her on board.

Lincoln is about to implement a series of expansion changes and she is just

what the program needs. I am very much looking forward to working with her."

The changes referred to by Blauvelt include the addition of weekend specialty

auctions to the calendar, educational lecture series, renovations to the

auction gallery, a greater focus on the furniture and fine art restoration

aspect of the business, and a future additional office.

Remmey decided to throw her hat in the ring with Lincoln when it became

apparent that her company had outgrown its space in less than a year.

"With business booming as it has been I have had a hard time keeping up with

my own success," she commented. "Becoming a part of the Lincoln team will

allow me to expand the media coverage and the educational lecture series, do

more appraisals and specialty auctions. Lincoln has some great plans for the

immediate future; it is a highly respected company and it is exciting to be a

part of it."

Presently, Lincoln holds monthly, three day auctions with an average of 500

attendees. "We have 400 paddles and we are close to running out of them. We

hold our auctions to standing-room-only crowds -- expansion was imminent,"

states Blauvelt.