citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . february 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message ritchie bros. auctioneers type public traded as nyse rba tsx rba industry auctions & industrial products distribution founded kelowna british columbia headquarters burnaby british columbia key people david edward ritchie founder beverley briscoe chairman ravi saligram ceo products auctions & industrial products distribution number of employees 1 200 website www.rbauction.com ritchie bros. auctioneers is an industrial auctioneer . the company is headquartered in burnaby a suburb of metro vancouver and has 110 locations in 25 countries and 44 auction sites worldwide . the company sells through unreserved public auctions a broad range of used and unused industrial assets including equipment trucks and other assets utilized in the construction transportation agricultural material handling mining forestry petroleum and marine industries . ritchie bros. is a public company . its common shares are traded on the new york and toronto stock exchanges under the ticker symbol rba . 1 contents 1 history 1.1 the ritchie brothers 1.2 50 years of unreserved industrial auctions 1.3 the early auction years 1.4 expansion in the u.s. 1.5 international expansion 1.6 the role of technology 1.7 going public 1.8 network of auction sites 1.9 acquisitions 1.10 notable auctions 1.11 50th anniversary 2 the company today 2.1 board of directors 3 references 4 external links history edit the ritchie brothers edit ritchie bros. auctioneers was established in kelowna b.c. canada . the three ritchie brothers ken john and dave ritchie took over the ok used furniture store from their father in 1955 . they entered the auction business in 1958 when they needed ca 2 000 to pay a bank debt on short notice . a friend suggested they conduct an auction to get rid of some surplus inventory from the furniture store . they conducted their first auction at the scout hall in kelowna in 1958 and discovered a new way of doing business . 2 starting with that first auction at the scout hall ritchie bros. maintained a strict policy of conducting unreserved auctions meaning there were no minimum bids and no reserve prices . the brothers also established a policy of not allowing bid ins or buybacks by the sellers . 3 the brothers began conducting auctions more regularly and in 1958 incorporated ritchie bros. auction galleries ltd. to formalize their new business . 4 ritchie bros. began selling used equipment in the 1960s . in 1963 dave ritchie moved to vancouver b.c. and rented an auction site on s.e. marine drive . he set up the company s first equipment auction in vancouver shortly after . 5 the ritchie brothers conducted their first major unreserved industrial auction in radium hot springs british columbia on june 7 1963 . they sold ca 663 000 of equipment in one day by far the largest auction in the company s history . 6 the success of the radium hot springs auction convinced the brothers that they could make more money auctioning used equipment than selling furniture so they sold their furniture store in kelowna and went into the auction business full time . 7 ritchie bros. auctioneers established one of the trademarks of its auctions at the radium hot springs auction . it was raining on the day of the auction . instead of making the bidders walk around in the rain during the auction they set up the auction under the eaves of a nearby shop and drove the equipment in to be sold piece by piece . the crowd stayed dry and the ramp and stage method became a fixture at ritchie bros. auctions thereafter . 8 50 years of unreserved industrial auctions edit on june 7 2013 ritchie bros. celebrated 50 years since the company s first major unreserved industrial auction in radium hot springs british columbia . it was at this radium hot springs auction that ritchie bros. adopted the ramp and stage approach for selling all mobile equipment . this approach involves a staging area designed as a ramp located in front of a viewing theater where bidders sit waiting for mobile equipment to come to center stage . each piece of equipment is numbered and once it comes to rest at the center of the ramp the auctioneer begins asking for bids . the crowd of bidders signals their bid increments to roving bid catchers who in turn signal the auctioneer when a bid is made . the auctioneer increases the call price until there are no more bids being placed . at a ritchie bros. auction bids are called until no more are forthcoming in approximately one minute when the auctioneer calls that the item has been sold to the highest bidder . the company has pioneered the ramp and stage method and unreserved industrial auctions around the world ever since the auction at radium hot springs on june 7 1963 . the early auction years edit most of the company s earliest auctions were held in british columbia . ritchie bros. began expanding into other parts of canada in the mid 1960s conducting its first auctions in alberta in 1964 the yukon 1964 saskatchewan 1965 manitoba 1968 and other parts of eastern canada shortly thereafter . 9 in 1965 ken ritchie left the company to spend more time with his family and the company s name was changed from ritchie bros. auction galleries ltd. to ritchie bros. auctioneers ltd. 10 ken established his own auction company but returned to work with his brothers in 1968 . he stayed with ritchie bros. auctioneers until 1980 . 11 in 1968 ritchie bros. auctioneers held its first auction with gross proceeds in excess of ca 1 million in edmonton alberta canada . 12 edmonton was also the site of the company s first permanent auction site on company owned land which was established in 1976 . until then ritchie bros. had been conducting its auctions on leased land . 13 expansion in the u.s. edit ritchie bros. established its first presence outside canada in 1969 when it became incorporated in washington usa . 14 the company held its first auction outside canada in 1970 in beaverton oregon and gradually began expanding throughout the united states . 13 in 1974 john ritchie left the company selling his share of the business to his brother dave . in 1975 dave ritchie the sole company shareholder decided to sell partnerships in ritchie bros. auctioneers to some of his key employees dick bartel c. russell russ cmolik ken ritchie and bill gronberg . 15 over the coming years the partnership expanded to include bob carswell marvin chantler ed banser roger rummel bob brawley ken asbury john wild marty pope mark clarke don chalmers sylvain touchette frank mcfadden and mike ritchie . 16 when ritchie bros. went public in 1998 ken ritchie and bill gronberg no longer owned shares in the company . by 1985 ritchie bros. auctioneers had sold more than us 1 billion of equipment through unreserved auctions . it took only three more years for the company to gross another us 1 billion in sales . 13 international expansion edit in the late 1980s ritchie bros. auctioneers began to look overseas for further growth opportunities . the company conducted its first auctions outside north america in 1987 in liverpool the u.k. and rotterdam the netherlands . the equipment sold at the liverpool auction had been used to rebuild the falkland islands following the war there . 17 further international expansion followed with the company s first auctions in australia 1990 mexico 1995 the middle east 1997 africa 2003 china 2013 and finland 2013 . 13 in 1991 the company achieved another milestone when it conducted its 1 000th unreserved auction . it conducted its 2 000th auction in the year 2000 . 13 the role of technology edit in 1989 ritchie bros. became the first industrial auction company to enable remote bidding via video when it broadcast its edmonton auction live at the agricom trade show in edmonton alberta canada . video simulcasts were held at trade shows in 1993 and 1995 followed in 1997 by a three way videoconferenced auction that linked separate auction sites in st. paul minnesota ; kansas city missouri ; and clinton wisconsin . equipment was located at all three sites and interested buyers could bid at any of the sites which were linked via video . 18 the company launched its website rbauction.com at the conexpo trade show in las vegas nevada usa in 1996 . the site featured a searchable database that enabled customers to see all of the equipment being sold in upcoming ritchie bros. auctions . 19 in march 1999 ritchie bros. broadcast an auction over the internet for the first time . 20 in march 2002 ritchie bros. introduced its real time internet bidding service rbauctionbid live . 21 on september 22 2008 ritchie bros. launched a comprehensive online resource tool for the construction mining transportation agricultural and forestry industries at minexpo international in las vegas . the tool is called ritchiewiki and is associated with an equipment specification engine called ritchiespecs . going public edit in 1998 the year that ritchie bros. went public the company s annual gross auction proceeds exceeded us 1 billion for the first time ever . 22 its common shares were listed on the new york stock exchange under the symbol rba in march 1998 followed by listing on the toronto stock exchange in april 2004 . 23 network of auction sites edit investing in permanent auction sites has been a company priority since the 1970s . ritchie bros. opened its first permanent auction site in nisku edmonton alberta canada in 1976 . before going public in 1998 the company opened additional permanent auction sites in vancouver b.c. in 1979 ; prince george b.c. 1980 ; denver colorado 1985 the first site in the u.s. ; phoenix arizona 1987 ; toronto ontario 1988 ; tampa florida 1995 ; atlanta georgia 1996 ; minneapolis minnesota 1991 ; houston texas 1993 ; fort worth texas 1994 ; olympia washington 1994 ; and halifax nova scotia 1997 . 24 since then ritchie bros. has added auction sites in eight other countries . today the company has 44 auction sites in 13 countries worldwide 25 usa albuquerque nm ; atlanta ga ; chicago il ; chehalis wa ; columbus oh ; denver co ; fort worth tx ; manchester nh ; houston tx ; kansas city mo ; las vegas nv ; los angeles ca ; minneapolis mn ; nashville tn ; north east md ; orlando fl ; phoenix az ; sacramento ca ; salt lake city ut ; raleigh durham nc ; st. louis mo ; tipton ca canada chilliwack bc ; edmonton ab ; grande prairie ab ; lethbridge ab ; montreal qc ; prince george bc ; regina sk ; saskatoon sk ; toronto on ; truro ns mexico polotitlan mex europe caorso ita ; donington park uk ; meppen deu ; moerdijk nld ; ocana esp ; st. aubin sur gaillon fra the middle east dubai uae asia narita jpn ; beijing chn australia brisbane qld ; geelong vic acquisitions edit in 1999 ritchie bros. acquired forke brothers an equipment auction company based in nebraska usa and one of its major competitors . the company moved its u.s. headquarters to lincoln nebraska following the acquisition . 26 ritchie bros. made its foray into the agricultural equipment auction business with the acquisitions of all peace auctions of grande prairie alberta canada in 2002 ; leblanc auction service of estevan saskatchewan canada in 2004 ; 27 dennis biliske auctioneers of buxton north dakota usa in 2006 ; clarke auctioneers of rouleau saskatchewan canada in 2007 ; 28 and martella auction company of tipton ca in 2009 . 29 notable auctions edit among the notable