ST. LOUIS — For four decades, LoRusso’s Restaurant stood as a beloved fixture on the Hill, intertwining itself into the memories and lives of everyone who passed through its doors. Now, with its recent closing, LoRusso's is offering its cherished pieces of history to the public.
Every item in the restaurant--from fine art to rare wine glasses--is up for grabs in an online auction.
“It was always a labor of love. We loved doing what we did,” says Terri LoRusso, who owned the restaurant with her late husband Rich. “I can’t take everything home--it’s just way too much. We’ll see what goes and what doesn’t and move on from there.”
The auction is entirely online through BCL Auctions, a long-standing local company that specializes in business liquidation. Bill Cockrum, the owner of BCL Auctions, says there are thousands of items up for grabs, including special and unique items. “A lot of this stuff isn’t out there in the marketplace anymore," said Cockrum. "It’s not your typical restaurant cookie-cutter type situation. I think there's going to be a lot of people that are going to see stuff here that's going to bring back memories from 10, 20, 30 years ago."
With everything from Italian-inspired art to classic restaurant equipment available, the auction could potentially serve as the foundation for new ventures. “You really could start a couple restaurants with what we have here,” says. LoRusso.
"We made lifelong friends," said LoRusson. "I just wanna see someone else enjoy it as much as we did."
The auction comes in two parts, or lots, with the first one ending on November 4 and the second ending on November 5.