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Pierce's American Antique Auctions

ABOUT US

What are the top three reasons for a furniture buyer to come to and buy from a Pierce auction?

1)  We have the largest SELECTION of American Antique furniture.

2)  We have the highest QUALITY pieces.

3)  All of our furniture pieces are READY TO SHOW and READY TO GO!

Who is James O. Pierce?

I was born on my maternal grandfather's farm May 6, 1935 in Williamson County, Tennessee about 10 miles south of Nashville.  I lived there with my maternal grandfather, father, mother and three sisters.  I got my love for antiques and auctions going to all the farms and house auctions with my grandfather in the county.  As I got older, I was able to travel on my own and continued to go to these types of auctions.  I began to imitate the auctioneer and began to buy pieces that needed to be repaired and refinished.  After reworking these pieces, I would take them to local auction barns in town and sell them for a profit.  My paternal grandfather and my father were both woodworkers, so I picked up that trade from them.  I worked on houses with my father as a young boy.

What made you interested in the furniture business?

When I was 20 years old I built my own house.  After my two daughters were born I sold fine furniture in Nashville.  I had lots of country music stars as customers, as we were only 10 blocks from the Grand Ol' Opera.  There is where I learned my sales ability, decorating, and also did the repairs and touch ups of the pieces that were broken in shipment.

How did you come to deal exclusively in antiques?

I left the furniture store and custom contract building business at the end of 1963.  I moved to Houston, January 2, 1964 and worked on large buildings downtown until early 1966.  I worked on the River Oaks Country Club in 1967, as well as the lunar receiving laboratory at NASA.  While I was working there I was picking up antiques, repairing and refinishing them, and I sold them on a 3-line ad in the Post.  I started making more money with this than from my regular job so I quit to build a shop in the yard behind my house.

How do you get your furniture to the auction?

I started hauling from Pennsylvania, using a pickup truck with a 14 ft. trailer.  Not long after that I bought a 24 ft. box truck.  Today, I use a 53 ft semi-trailer!

What is the history behind your auction location?

In 1968, I bought property at 13825 I-10 east, with a retail building on the property and remodeled and made an auction house.  In 1970, I built my present day auction building at the same location.  My first auction in the new building was debt free.

How did you become so well versed in "auction chant"?

Over the years I have made two trips  a month to Pennsylvania; about 1600 miles each way.  In the early days, I drove by myself most of the time.  I had a lot of time to practice auctioneering.  I also used to practice on my wife and three children; that's how I learned to auction 35 years ago.

Who are some of the people who have helped you become so successful?

My daughter, Jennifer Pierce, started writing auction tickets for me at the age of 11.  She has cashiered for many years and still helps me run the show.  I could not have ever done all of this without her help and the help of my family and all the wonderful customers throughout the years.  I love them all!

Where do you find such beautiful and unique furniture pieces?

We buy or sell on commission from local estates.  We also sell for local dealers usually from a few pieces to the whole shop and from out of state dealers.  I have traveled and bought in every state east of the Mississippi river, from the Gulf Coast to the Canadian border.  We always try to have 400-500 pieces of fine quality American antiques.