Casino news source: The Press of Atlantic City - http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com
Atlantic City's largest garage sale coming soon to Sands
Sands to sell everything ? from furniture to kitchen sink
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Staff Writer, (609) 272-7258
Published: Monday, April 30, 2007
ATLANTIC CITY ? Joyce Munch delicately stacked a restaurant's worth of dishes and plates onto shelves in what appeared to be a gigantic kitchen.
Neatly arranged on tables next to the plates were glasses of every conceivable size and type ? cocktail glasses, water glasses, glass coffee mugs and, of course, the ubiquitous champagne glasses.
?There are thousands and thousands and thousands,? Munch, an employee of National Content Liquidators Inc., moaned in mock exhaustion as she continued her work. ?We've got a little bit of everything, including the kitchen sink.?
Actually, hundreds of thousands of items will be up for grabs as the old Sands Casino Hotel clears out its vast contents in an ?everything must go? sale beginning 10 a.m. Thursday. The public sale will continue for the next 30 to 45 days until the place is bare.
?Virtually everything that you see will be sold,? said Donald J. Hayes, vice president of National Content Liquidators, the company overseeing disposal of the estimated $1 million inventory. ?Nothing will be held back.?
Where legions of gamblers played the slot machines and blackjack tables only six months ago, the former casino floor is now crowded with a sea of kitchen equipment and household items. Television sets, stereos, pots, pans, silverware, toasters, dishwashers, coffee makers, chairs, tables and much, much more have been tagged for sale.
The Sands is also liquidating the furniture from its 500 guest rooms. Beds, sofas, love seats, armoires, nightstands, lamps, pictures, chandeliers, marble vanities and even the Jacuzzi tubs are being sold off.
If you've ever fantasized of living like a high roller but couldn't afford it, now is your chance to pick up some posh stuff at heavily discounted prices. The Sands is also selling the contents of its VIP suites where the high rollers and stars like Frank Sinatra once hung out. In the ultra-luxe Hollywood Suite, for example, a king-size canopy bed is being sacrificed at $2,250, a marble-top bar is going for $1,500 and a sprawling tub with waterfall jets could be yours for $1,495.
?It's all very Frank Sinatra-like,? Sands spokeswoman Carmen Gonzales said of the lavish decor. ?You're not getting junk or over-used items.?
The most expensive items in the Sands likely will be bought by hoteliers or other business owners. Hayes said that two emergency generators are on the block for $35,000 each and an escalator will be sold for $10,000. Other big-ticket items include a video jukebox for $10,000 and pianos priced between $4,500 and $5,000.
There also will be lots of Sands memorabilia stamped with the casino's legendary logo. Nothing, perhaps, could be more uniquely Sands than the towering, gambling-themed icons that decorate the outside of the building along Pacific Avenue. Hayes said the icons will be sold, but buyers will have to bring construction crews to remove them from the building facade.
After a 26-year run, the Sands closed for good Nov. 11. The casino and its 21-story hotel tower are being emptied in preparation for demolition in the fall. Pinnacle Entertainment Inc., which bought the Sands last year for $250 million, is clearing the site for development of a new $1.5 billion megacasino.
Virtually all of the Sands' former slot machines and gaming tables have been recycled in other Pinnacle casinos across the country and will not be up for sale as part of the mass liquidation. The only exceptions will be old poker tables that have had the felt covering torn off them to make them generic tables, Gonzales said.
Although the old building soon will be reduced to dust, Gonzales noted that the liquidation sale means that many parts of the Sands will be preserved. Even the storied Copa Room, where Sinatra and other big-name entertainers performed for so many years, will be resurrected of sorts.
?The Copa Room's curtain will be sold off,? Gonzales said. ?It will be interesting to see where it rises again.? |
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