Leamington business adjusts to pandemic

LEAMINGTON — When Liz and David McCormick started Legacy Auctions in February 2011, they never envisioned that a pandemic would bring their business to screeching halt.

After their March 13 auction, that’s exactly what happened.

After about ten years of increasingly frequent auctions held at their auction house at the Leamington Fairgrounds, the couple found themselves in an unusual predicament.

With an auction hall full of merchandise, they had to think outside the box to keep their business going.

After all, they had become accustomed to at least 100 auction customers attending their weekly Sunday auctions. The COVID-19 pandemic presented a challenge, to say the least.

After several weeks being idle, the McCormicks decided it was in the best interest of their clients, their staff and their business, to change things up.

Liz and David McCormick pose near one of their many auction trailers at the fairgrounds in Leamington. Their business, Legacy Auctions, is adjusting to the COV- ID-19 pandemic by converting their auction house into a retail outlet.

Sun photo

Starting this week, Legacy Auctions has opened their doors to the public, offering the items they would have normally put up for auction, to anyone wanting to come in and shop.

The merchandise runs the gamut of household items, tools, furniture and appliances and the hall is jam packed with loads of goods.

“We realized that we have clients who need us to move their stuff,” said Liz. “We also realized that local people are in need of reasonably priced used items.”

So they contacted their auction clients and got permission to change their way of selling to move the merchandise along.

They’ve been preparing for a couple of weeks and are ready to re-open their doors — with a twist.

Legacy is now open for retail shoppers Tuesday through Friday from 8:30am to 4:30pm and Saturdays from 9:30 to noon.

When the virus situation fades enough for restrictions on auctions and large gatherings to be lifted, the McCormicks expect they’ll return to business as usual.

There will be regular COVID-19 restrictions and you must wear a mask to enter the premises, following the recently announced mandatory restriction by the local health unit.

They will only allow about 20 shoppers in the building at one time, to keep social distancing possible, and cannot open their washroom facilities to the public.

The auction house is near the back of the Leamington Fairgrounds property in the Jeanette Mulholland Activity Centre.