Meet Deba Gray and Serena Harragin of Gray’s Auctioneers
Gray’s Auctioneers founders Serena Harragin (left) and Deba Gray fully expected the pandemic to hurt their business, but instead, their audience grew. Their Cleveland, Ohio, auction house reaches between six to eight million people worldwide. Image courtesy of Gray’s Auctioneers.
CLEVELAND – Friends warned Deba Gray and Serena Harragin that starting a business together would end their personal relationship. Fortunately for antiques and art buyers, they didn’t listen, and 28 years later, the couple is still going strong. After separate careers that took them from Key West, where they met, to Chicago and New York, the two settled 16 years ago in Gray’s hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. There, they bought a building and founded their own auction house, Gray’s Auctioneers. Gray had previously worked for Wolfs, Sotheby’s and Leslie Hindman, while Harragin’s background was in commercial advertising and finance. Auction Central News recently spoke with Harragin and Gray to learn more about the art-industry power couple and their booming business.
