PRO F I LE
Bob Brown
A N T I Q U E S I C O N • AU C T I O N E E R • YA C H T S M A N By Stacy Moser
Bob Brown has a flair for selling people things they don’t need. Big, expensive things they don’t need. Back in the 1970s, Brown opened a dress shop here for his wife and mother, using antiques as display fixtures. He soon discovered that the antiques sold as quickly as the clothing. “I said, ‘Forget the dresses, let’s sell antiques!’” Bob laughs. “That’s how Red Baron Antiques was born. I couldn’t afford an alarm system, so we stocked huge items that people couldn’t walk off with.” Now, with over 60,000 square feet of space, he reigns supreme over Atlanta’s world of antiques, with clients flying in for auctions from all over the globe. Antiques have even become a family affair—Bob had a recurring role on the Discovery Channel’s “Auction Kings” reality show, which starred his son, Paul.
Q
Who are your buyers and what do they want?
Nothing I have is stuff anyone needs. They just want it. Rod Stewart, Billy Joel and Wayne Newton were guys who bought things from me. I told ’em, “I got it, and you don’t.” Then they went nuts! The passion I see in buyers is phenomenal.
Q
What are the most unusual items you’ve sold?
Q
What was the most you made on a single antique sale?
Q
What do you do for fun?
I auctioned off a diamond ring for $500,000 to a guy who came up onstage to get it and turned around, walked over to his wife and gave it to her. Pretty cool guy! I sold Elvis Presley’s first guitar for $180,000.
I love to eat out at Rumi’s Kitchen, Maya Steaks & Seafood, il Giallo and Ippolito’s. I hang out on my boats. I keep a 38’ Chris-Craft cruiser on Lake Lanier. RBAntiques.com
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There’s no such thing as the most unusual piece—they are all pretty unusual. One that amazed me was the E.T. model from the movie E.T. [the Extra-Terrestrial]—I’d never seen the movie, so I expected to get, maybe, $400 for it. It sold for $39,000. And I sold a private, paneled room and desk belonging to President Eisenhower.
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