The “Estate-Sale Queen of Dallas” has garnered national attention.
Janelle Stone, Owner and President of Janelle Stone Estate Services, has handled and managed estate sales for some of Dallas’s most opulent homes and wealthiest families for decades. She ran her first sale in 1983, and her success has been exponential.
Her estate sales have become frenzied affairs and have even been recently featured in The New Yorker. She used to post the addresses of upcoming estate sales online a few days before the actual sale. However, her popularity increased so much that people would camp out for days to be first in line. Now, she announces the address of a sale at 6 a.m. on the day of the event.
The estate sales normally last two days. During that time, Stone might sell more than a million dollars worth of vintage pieces, antiques, and family heirlooms, according to The New Yorker. She only handles eight to ten sales a year. Her sales offer treasures for every shopper, and the items at the sales are usually incredible and unique.
“We get the wealthy and the not-wealthy, the well-heeled and the tacky, people in beaters and people in Maseratis,” said Stone. “There’s something for everyone.”
Stone has 39 years of Estate Liquidation experience and was also a dealer in American and Continental antiques for many years.
She was previously the former Editor and Monthly Feature Contributor for Antiques Prime Magazine and has been featured as an antique expert on WFAA/Channel 8 and Fox 4 News in Dallas. In addition to her work as an expert appraiser and private client education and consultation, she also lectures on antiques, collecting, and interior design.
Stone intimately knows the Dallas area, as she grew up here and her family has lived in the Park Cities for three generations.
Dallas is apparently an ideal market for estate sales.
“We did a sale in Austin, and we couldn’t sell the silver. People didn’t care about silver. But, in Dallas, they love it,” Wen Stone, Stone’s son and business partner, who is vice president of Janelle Stone Estate Services, said. “Dallas is known for being big, big, and shiny. Here, people like to show off their things.”
Estate sale information can be found on Stone’s website, with a forthcoming sale planned for Friday, November 11, and Saturday, November 12. The address, of course, will only be posted at 6 a.m. on Friday.
