Rea Brothers Mid-South Auction
In 1955, a small greenhouse sheltering a one-lane strip was the founding site of
what later came to be known as Rea Brothers Mid-South Auction. Cecil Rea,
founder, sought to fill a need in the local community and saw the auction
business as an opportunity to open a family-owned business bursting with
potential.
It was in 1972 that Mid-South Auction actually came to be born, as Cecil turned
the business over to his sons, Kenny and Jimmy. The brothers opened Rea Brothers
Mid-South Auction in Philadelphia and quickly had to expand after attracting the
attention of car dealers from across Mississippi and the Southeast. They decided
to open a more centralized location in the Jackson, Mississippi region, planting
its roots in nearby Pearl. In 1994, a new facility was needed to accommodate the
increase in auctioned vehicles and, therefore, built its current location which
includes a multi-million dollar facility and still located in Pearl.
The auction sells off leased and repossessed vehicles for some of the nation’s
leading financial institutions. On any given week, cars and trucks from such
companies as Hyundai Motor Finance, KIA Motors Finance, Wachovia Bank, State
Farm Bank, Trustmark Bank, Regions Bank, in addition to local banks and credit
unions, are offered. Major fleet companies also send their vehicles to
Mid-South. Included among the consignors are Avis, Budget, and Enterprise
Rent-A-Car, along with commercial fleet accounts such as Wheels, ARI and Fleet
Lease Disposal.
The auction is primarily a dealer sale, drawing over 500 dealers from a number of
states, to the facility every Tuesday with an additional 75 dealers bidding
online. The exception to the dealer auction is the once a month Government Sale.
This event is open to the general public and features surplus vehicles from the
General Services Administration, the State of Mississippi, municipal governments
and various utility companies.
Mid-South Auction’s impact extends further than just employing more than 100
people and drawing visitors from all over the region. The company also takes
pride in giving back to the local communities it serves, participating in
everything from sponsoring youth athletics to its “Help Support Our Troops
Month”, where the auction matched contributions from dealers to help the
families of members of the Mississippi National Guard.
Over the past 37 years, Mid-South Auction has grown from a one-lane automobile
auction selling 40 cars a week, to a new, best-in-class, facility that processes
over 32,000 vehicles a year for dealers taking notice from California to New
York, and all the way down to home sweet home. Rea Brothers’ Mid-South Auction
is proud of its past and proud to be a part of Mississippi’s future.
To learn more about Rea Brothers Mid-South Auction please visit: www.rbmsa.com