Asheville entrepreneur Kimmel is downsizing; here’s how you can buy his art, home decor

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Asheville entrepreneur Joe Kimmel is downsizing, and in so doing, he’s putting an array of art, home furnishing and other home decor up for sale starting this weekend.

“This sale is about rare items” that Kimmel has assembled in a lifetime of collecting art and antiques from around the world, says Robert Nicholas, who is curating and overseeing the sale. Nicholas is the owner of the Splurge shop of upcycled lighting fixtures and home furnishings in the River Arts District, as well as the Uncommon Market, which is coming to New Belgium Brewing on May 5.

The sale includes art, home furnishing and decor in the Mid-Century Modern, Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Mission and Arts and Crafts styles. It starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday (April 27) and 10 a.m. on Sunday (April 28) at the Pearlman’s building on Page Avenue in downtown Asheville, across from the Grove Arcade.

Items have been researched and priced accordingly, says Nicholas, with prices ranging from $100 to $6,000. Nicholas says the weekend event is just the first event in what will be a year-long process of selling off Kimmel’s collections. Unopened boxes in a basement hold ever more items that Nicholas and his team have yet to catalogue. Atomic Furnishing & Design and Modern Asheville are co-hosting the event.

Joe W. Kimmel founded the executive search firm Kimmel & Associates in Asheville in 1981. Prior to that, Kimmel had successful careers in nuclear engineering and securities trading. The company, housed on upper floors of the Pearlman’s building, employs more than 100 people and specializes in executive searches for the transportation, construction, solid waste, freight forwarding and supply chain industries. It is the largest in the nation to specialize in the construction industry.

Kimmel has a close relationship to the University of North Carolina Asheville, where the multipurpose center Kimmel Arena bears his name in honor of a $2 million gift to UNC Asheville’s North Carolina Center for Health and Wellness. Six of Kimmel’s seven children are graduates of UNCA.

1 Comment

Curious May 6, 2019 - 6:34 am

Kimmel declared bankruptcy about the time he promised his gift to UNCA. Did UNCA ever get its money?

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