Final farewell for Dallas & Co: Online auction underway

Jan. 4—CHAMPAIGN — Here's your chance to spice up your decor with a 13-foot robotic gorilla that roars and own your very own gargoyle.

For Andy Dallas, parting with these and many more items from his landmark Champaign store, Dallas & Co. Costumes & Magic, is bittersweet. But the store has been closed for more than a year now, and it's time to let the merchandise go, he said.

"I've spent my life doing this, but it's time to move on," 72-year-old Dallas said.

There are probably nearly 1,000 items in the store that are being auctioned off online by Nokomis-based Aumann Auctions, said Dallas.

The auction company lists such items for sale as high-end animatronic props, costumes, haunted house props, masks, wigs, fog machines, dunk tanks, party decorations, magic tricks, medieval armor and life-size statues. Store fixtures are also for sale.

Bidding is already underway, and prospective buyers will get a chance to go inside the store at 101 E. University Ave., C, and view what's for sale from 3 to 5:30 p.m. Jan. 17, with bidding to end the following day.

Dallas & Co., which got its start in a tiny space in Campustown on Green Street a half-century ago, moved a few times before settling into its current building at the corner of First Street and University Avenue.

Andy Dallas, who became a widely-renown escape artist and magician — and who once, in 1976, hung upside down off a 21-story Champaign building and escaped from a straight jacket — has been the creative side of the store, and his wife, Barbara, has handled the business side, the couple said.

Dallas got started in business before Halloween transformed from just a kids' trick-or-treat holiday into a popular holiday for adults, too, he recalled.

While Halloween 2020 was the last one for the store, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed plans for an auction. And, Dallas said, he's loved it all so much, he still feels like he never worked a day in his life.

"This year, I began to realize this is just stuff. I'm surrounded by my dreams," he said.

He plans to hang onto some of his collectables, which will be coming to his home, and admits it will be hard to part with some of his favorites in the auction, among them the robotic gorilla and a full-size automaton clown seated in a chair and made in 1900.

Also sold will be the skull on the building roof, gargoyle on the First Street side in back, the entry piece at the back door and the Tyrannosaurus rex on the back exterior wall. Countless kids have had their pictures taken sitting on the dinosaur's foot over the years, Dallas said.

Andy and Barbara Dallas are also selling the building itself, though that's not part of the auction. Prospective buyers can contact them, they said. It's been a great location convenient to the University of Illinois campus while still accessible to the rest of the community, Andy Dallas said.

He's not totally stepping out of the career he's loved. Dallas said he plans to operate a small magic shop to be open by appointment only and is looking for a location for that, he said. He also plans to continue with magic shows and lectures, health permitting, he said.

He appreciates all the support his business has gotten from the community over the years, Dallas said.

"I've lived my dream," he said.

Here are the links to see what's for sale and place bids:

* Items ending at 4 p.m. Jan. 18: bid.aumannauctions.com/auctions/catalog/id/29872/.

* Items ending at 7 p.m. Jan. 18: bid.aumannauctions.com/auctions/catalog/id/29873/.