AtAuction Updated Pics and Bios
08-25-11
John House, CEO
John is the founder of At Auction and serves as the company’s
President and Chief Executive Officer. He is considered one of the
foremost authorities and an early pioneer of online B2C auctions.
In 2001, John founded Always At Market, Inc,. Using his
knowledge and experience of the Internet auction space he
partnered with the leading B2C auction marketplaces, developing
their non-core auction categories. As Always at Market’s
business shifted to more private label auction sites and managed
services, the company repositioned and re-branded itself in 2008
to At Auction, a total solutions provider of B2C Internet auction
managed services and technology.
John received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1984 from the
University of California at Berkley where he was a four-year
letterman on the Golden Bear baseball team. John received his
Jurist Doctorate degree from the University of Santa Clara in
1987. John is a member of the Society of International Business
Fellows and a major supporter of youth athletics in the Dallas
area. John and his wife Nikki have two sons, Cole and Kevin.
John Walker, CFO
John joined At Auction in 2007, and oversees the company’s
accounting, finance, HR, and operations. He is a seasoned
financial executive with over 23 years of financial management
experience in the consumer products industry including merger
and acquisitions, private financing, turnaround, equity and debt
financing, as well as general operations management.
Prior to joining At Auction, John served as the Chief Financial
Officer for Fitz & Floyd, Inc., internationally-known for their highend home décor and collectibles. John joined Fitz & Floyd in
1987, and after serving in several positions such as Controller,
Treasurer and Vice President of Finance, he was promoted to
Chief Financial Officer in 1996. While at Fitz & Floyd, he worked
with numerous private equity investors and investment groups, in
addition to lenders such as the Thomas H. Lee Company, Bear
Sterns, Credit Suisse First Boston, the CIT Group, Fleet Capital
Corporation and Bank of America Business Capital. John is a
graduate of Southern Methodist University and received his
public accountant license in 1985.
Mike Coming, CTO
Mike joined AtAuction in 2010 and is responsible for the
company's information technology and the development of the
company’s auction platform. Mike has been leading software
development teams for over twenty years in industries as diverse
as defense, supply chain, and industrial automation.
Jeff Bruneau, Vice President
Jeff joined At Auction in 2010, and is responsible for the
company’s Watch and Memorabilia categories. He is a senior
level executive with almost 20 years of successful leadership in
direct to consumer marketing, consumer packaged goods,
product development, social media, brand building, strategic and
tactical planning.
Most recently, Jeff served as Sr. Director of Marketing, at Mattel,
Inc. where he was responsible for the strategic planning and dayto-day marketing of the Radica electronic game division . Under
Jeff’s leadership, Mattel entered into social media, and digital
based products and marketing efforts. He worked with licensors
such as Warner Bros, Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, D.C., and
Marvel.
Prior to Mattel, Jeff spent 13 years at Fossil, Inc. in their Product
Development Group managing several Fossil watch lines, and
working with high profile brands such as Emporio Armani, Zodiac,
DKNY, Diesel, Philippe Starck and Michael Kors. He was also
directly responsible for the Wrist Instruments division, which
formed strategic partnerships with Microsoft, Palm, and Sony
Ericsson.
Sonali Shah, Vice President
Sonali joined At Auction in 2011, and is responsible for the
company’s Jewelry category. She is a senior level executive with
over 16 years of successful leadership in merchandise buying,
product development, international sourcing, assortment and
inventory planning. She has strong operational background in
the apparel, footwear, jewelry, accessories, home and craft
industries.
Most recently, Sonali served as Senior Manager of J C
Penney.com, Apparel division, where she was responsible for
leading teams in several divisions as a planning manager, sourcing
production manager, and inventory planner over the last 9 years.
She successfully launched private brands with annual revenue
totaling $300 million.
Prior to J C Penney, Sonali spent 2 years at Michaels Arts and
Crafts developing their internal financial and inventory planning
systems. Sonali has a Master’s in Science degree in Retail
Merchandising from Texas Woman’s University in Denton, TX.
Paul Gardner, Vice President
Paul Gardner is a seasoned retail channel executive with over 25
years of IT and consumer products industry experience. He has
worked in all retail channels and understands the marketing
efforts required to make the best businesses better.
Prior to AtAuction, Paul was the Divisional Merchandise Manager
(DMM) for Consumer Electronics at Radio Shack where he helped
lead the product development and broadened the market reach
of the company’s franchise and online business.
Paul honed his skills at Montgomery Ward- Electric Avenue as a
Buyer, and Managing Vendor. He leveraged those skills to
become a primary contributor to the growth and eventual IPOs of
uBid and eCost.
Tony Ramos, Creative Director
Photographer Tony Ramos joined AtAuction in 2010. Tony brings
almost 20 years’ experience to our company. He currently
manages the creative styling, presentation, and photography of
products. His team brings marketing ideas to fruition, adding a
unique styling and expertise. Tony brings to AtAuction amazing
creativity, technical know-how, and attention to detail.
Most recently, Tony served as Studio Manager and Lead
Photographer for Vertis, a national Pre-media, Printing, and
Marketing Solutions Company. At Vertis, his client accounts
included Office Max, Radio Shack, Waccamaw Pottery, and
Homeplace.
Prior to that Tony worked at retailers such as May Co., Filene’s,
and G. Fox. Tony’s responsibilities there included overseeing
photography, pre-press, and imaging for those client
organizations, as well as managing his own creative team. Tony
studied at Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of
Bridgeport.
Yvonne Gonzalez, Operations
Manager
Yvonne Gonzalez has been working with AtAuction since August
of 2001. Starting as an inventory manager for the Memorabilia
department at AtAuction, she has honed her skills in several
areas from inventory management to genuine and effective
customer service and now supervises the entire company’s
inventory control and customer service departments.
Yvonne’s current responsibilities include the management of
eight employees, entering records of received inventory into our
proprietary software, reconciling all inventory against
corresponding invoices, and tracking all new merchandise
samples. All customer orders are pulled, tracked, and shipped
under her supervision.
In tandem with her warehouse management, Yvonne is involved
in our Customer Service Department, where she has created a
system that greatly reduces the amount of time needed to
process and resolve issues and requests.
Jason Baxa, Logistics Manager
With 20 years of experience under his belt, seasoned Distribution
Manager Jason Baxa is a multi-faceted warehouse and logistical
professional who has been with At Auction almost since its
inception.
Jason manages inventory receiving and control, inbound and
outbound shipping, order processing, and negotiating supplies,
while heading up refurbishment in our Inventory Asset Recovery
Program. He is responsible for negotiation of all freight services
and shipping rates to our clients.
With his guidance, the warehouse team and category schedulers
conduct our inventory process, ensuring that the contents of our
warehouse meet the current market demand.
Advisors
John “Jack” Stieber
David L. Johnston
David L. Johnston has extensive experience with both public and
private real estate companies. He recently served as CEO,
President and Advisory Board Member of Archon Residential, a
Goldman Sachs subsidiary company with over $2 billion in assets
and 1,000 employees.
During his career Mr. Johnston has served as CEO, President and
Trustee of Automotive Realty Trust of America; Division
President, Director and Managing Partner of the Trammell Crow
Residential Companies; and as an Executive officer of United
Dominion Realty Trust. In addition, he is a former member of the
Board of Directors and Executive Committee for American
Federal Savings Bank; and a past Director of the National
Multihousing Council. Mr. Johnston has a MBA from Southern
Methodist University. Currently he is on the Board of Directors of
the Society of International Business Fellows, American Cancer
Society, and the Frontier of Flight Museum.