Morphy Auctions Merges with James D. Julia, Inc.
Denver, PA — Effective December 14th, 2017, Dan Morphy of Morphy Auctions, proudly announced that he has successfully merged with the renowned international auction company of James D. Julia, Inc., which will become a division of Morphy Auctions.
Morphy Auctions and James D. Julia, Inc. share a common purpose of delighting collectors worldwide with aligned missions and unparalleled customer service standards. Joining forces creates a synergistic team of passionate staff members to better serve our customers and strengthen the antiques and collectibles industry.
Both companies take pride in having the most talented and knowledgeable experts in the industry. One of the biggest advantages to this merger is blending both teams of leading experts to enhance processes, descriptions, and valuations.
Morphy Auctions realized annual sales of $35 million dollars within the last year. Within this same time, Julia’s generated $43 million dollars in annual sales; for a combined gross of $78 million dollars. With this combined total of potential annual sales, Morphy Auctions is poised to become the one of the largest antique auction houses in North America.
President and founder of James D. Julia, Inc., Jim Julia, has been involved in the auction business for nearly 50 years. He began as a small country auctioneer in Maine but grew the company to an internationally renowned business, which currently consists of 3 divisions; Rare Firearms, Lamps, Glass & Fine Jewelry, and Fine Arts, Asian & Antiques.
Morphy Auctions has experienced tremendous growth over the years. The combination of the highly experienced and much acclaimed Julia team together with the outstanding auction team that Morphy has already formed, will make Morphy Auctions the ultimate place to go for rare firearms and important lamp & glass; as well as, toys, dolls, advertising, coin-op, automobilia and petroliana, and all forms of decorative arts.
Dan Morphy, Founder and President of Morphy Auction Company stated, “I have literally spent all my life watching and learning from Jim. With nearly 50 years in the industry, Jim has an undisputed reputation and I admire and will emulate his business approach towards his clients and employees. It is an honor and privilege to have this new association with someone I have considered to be a mentor and leader in the industry.
Over the years, Jim Julia crafted an extraordinary team and unique auction company as a result of his philosophy, business acumen and direct, honest approach with his clients whether they be buyers or sellers. I have always tried to incorporate the same approach. In merging with Julia’s extraordinary team, I intend to make the transition as seamless as possible. The bottom-line is that I not only want to merge Jim Julia’s company and his people but I want to expand the philosophy of our business to include much of what created extraordinary success for Jim.
Jim Julia, Founder and President of James D. Julia, Inc., shared, “I had never considered not being in the auction business and I have, for many years, contended that I, like my father (who passed away at nearly 90 years old this past year), would continue to auction well into my 80’s, provided my health allowed it. The limitation in my mind had always been my personal health. But in November of 2016, my wife received a devastating diagnosis of incurable brain cancer. I immediately realized that as much as I loved the people, the antiques, and the excitement of the auction; there was nothing more important in this world to me than my wife, and I elected to devote my time to my wife, Sandy. From November of 2016 until today, my auction company never skipped a beat and has been extremely successful under the leadership of my good friend and CEO, Mark Ford, who continued to lead, improve, and expand our company.
A short while ago, Dan Morphy called to speak with me and asked if I would consider selling the company or doing some sort of joint venture. I explained to him that there were 3 things that were incredibly important to me; first, of course, was what was in the best interest of me and my wife, secondly, my obligation to my incredibly loyal and dedicated team of employees, and thirdly, wanting to do what would best serve all of the wonderful consignors and buyers that the company had developed over the years. The ensuing conversations with Dan, and ultimately the deal we were able to put together, allowed me to cover all three of these factors. The employee concern was a highly important one, and with Dan’s likeminded philosophy and practice with his current team; it instilled tremendous confidence in my people as they made their new career commitment to Morphy Auctions. As I said, I also had a concern for all the wonderful consignors and buyers that have followed my company for these many years, and I really wanted to see the core philosophy of my business continue and provide my valued customers with a similar special opportunity as they had experienced with Julia’s. Dan’s approach to adopting many of the key components of my business philosophy gave me a great sense of assurance, confidence and satisfaction in regards to the fact that my customers now and into the future will continue to have a wonderful auction experience as they have for many years with Julia’s.
I have always admired Dan, his youth, his energy, his tremendous drive and his success. I knew and did business with Dan before he became an auctioneer and watched him as he entered the auction business and the subsequent dramatic growth he experienced. Dan is a superb leader and this was very clear and obvious during our negotiations about the melding of the two companies.
In transitioning my company to Morphy’s, I will miss the wonderful friends I have developed with consignors and buyers throughout my auctions. I will miss the incredible camaraderie of my auction team and the thrilling and exciting experience of the actual auction. Most importantly, I will miss the satisfaction I received from a job well done. I must also say, selling my company to Dan is a great relief. It now has removed all of my responsibilities in regards to auctions and overseeing the management of a valued team. Now Sandy and I can focus completely on each other. I will transition to Morphy Auctions as a consultant for Dan and the team. Under the circumstances, I could not imagine a better conclusion for my business and for Sandy”.
Both the Morphy Auction Team and the Julia Auction Team will be represented once again at the 2018 Las Vegas Arms Show, January 19th - 21st, 2018.
“We encourage anyone attending the show to stop by the booths and meet our newly blended and expanded Firearms Auction Team”, Dan Morphy concluded.
Julia’s currently has scheduled a Fine Arts, Asian & Antiques auction in February of 2018 and their spring Firearms Auction which will take place in March. To facilitate a seamless transition, the Julia team will manage and conduct both sales in Fairfield, Maine, as they have in the past. Morphy Auctions will hold all future auctions and accept consignments in their Pennsylvania and Nevada locations.
