Hello! We’re Chris & Lauren. Back in 2018, Bridge Street Rustics was born, with the goal to hunt for New England treasures and make wood creations that we could fill our antiques booth with at Antiques on the Farmington in Collinsville CT. It started out as a side gig, as we both had backgrounds unrelated to treasure hunting. Chris worked in the emergency services field for almost three decades, as an EMT, Firefighter and a Police Officer. Lauren has a masters in education and a degree in marketing, and spent years as a server, teacher and marketing manager. Who knew that the skills acquired over the years would be the perfect recipe for what we are doing now, helping families find new homes for their loved items.
As 2020 approached, both of us were laid off from our full time jobs and decided to take it as a sign to focus solely on our business. We rented our first warehouse space in the Collins Axe Factory conveniently located in the same building as our antiques booth. We also created a woodshop and a showroom in this space and had some store hours on weekends. So, now we had to hunt for even more goodies to fill both our showroom and booth! At this time, we fell in love with the online auction process and spent a lot of time bidding in auctions to fill our spaces with.
It wasn’t long before we decided to become auction managers for Clearing House Estates and start building online auctions for families around the Farmington Valley in CT.
In 2022, we decided to take another big leap of faith and leased a 2000 square foot store inside the Collins Axe Factory to fill with our estate finds and creations. It was such a fun experience that we will always cherish. After two years of working 8 days a week (or at least it felt like it!) building auctions, making custom woodworking creations, keeping up with filling our booth and store, and finding time for family and friends, we decided to let go of the store and focus our energy on our antiques booth, building online auctions and spending more time together as a family. We have four beautiful children and a Wheaton puppy named Molly.
We had no idea how fulfilling building online auctions for families would be until we began this journey. We are both super sentimental and nostalgic and we can completely relate to the struggle our clients face during this very hard process. Letting go of treasures that have surrounded you and your family for a lifetime is so incredibly hard. We are honored to be by your side helping you through this process.
We feel it’s important to honor your items by showcasing them beautifully! With Lauren’s background in marketing, we spend countless hours marketing these auctions to make sure they get in front of as many people as possible.
When we first began, we chose our name with “Bridge” in it because we have always loved connection. Hunting for treasures and making creations has always been a way to help connect people to each other, whether it is making a sentimental gift or finding a piece of history that brings you back to a time you really connected with. We continue to create that bridge through our online auction estate services, connecting cherished keepsakes with their new loving home, as it journeys through time.
Thank you for taking the time to learn about us. We hope we can meet you in the future, whether it is building an online auction for you and your family, having you bid in one of our auctions, or hunting for treasures in our antiques booth.