In the world of freight and warehousing, accidents happen, and circumstances change in an instant. What can a company do when products fall off a truck, a leaky warehouse roof soaks through a stack of shipping cartons, tenants fail to pay their rent and abandon their inventory, or the time comes to move or downsize? They can call Colony Trading! The team at Colony Trading was founded in 1982 and has a history of turning lemons into lemonade. They are experts in repurposing surplus and slightly damaged merchandise, keeping products from wasting in a landfill or gathering dust in valuable warehouse space. When a company is left with a lot of perfectly good products that can no longer be sold or utilized in their intended market, Colony Trading comes to the rescue!
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The creative minds behind Colony Trading are Stuart Whitehead and Tim Lewis, along with their Online Auction partners, Bob and Greg Silverman, and Warehouse Manager, Manny Serrano. They are conveniently located right here in Raritan Center®, and together, they are the salvage and liquidation specialists who turn mistakes, misfortune, and miscalculation into monetary gain. “We’re opportunists and we solve problems,” says Tim. Whether the product has been abandoned or a company is going out of business, Stuart and Tim will move orphaned and overstock merchandise to ideal alternative markets. “We buy closeouts, end of season goods, irregulars, customer returns and damages,” says Stuart. “We’ve sold a wide variety of merchandise” adds Tim, “ranging from anything sold in a retail store to commodities”. They now reach consumers throughout the country through their highly successful online auctions.
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So, what do health and beauty aids, electronics, housewares, refrigerator locks, teeth-whitening kits, cigar cutters, and solar panels have in common? They can all be found in Colony Trading’s next online auction! Before COVID, the team at Colony hosted in-person live bidding auctions almost once a month. When the need to adapt arose, they quickly pivoted to online-only auctions and have seen massive success. Colony’s online auctions run every three to four weeks and generate over 200,000 views, opening their business to a whole new audience. Their auction lots receive anywhere from 3,500-4,000 bids and their steady base of 1,200 customers is only increasing. People just keep coming back – in part because the Team carefully selects the products to be included. If something is merchandisable and meets their approval, they will give it a chance.
From left to right: Manny Serrano, Greg Silverman, Tim Lewis, Stuart Whitehead, and Bob Silverman.
This longstanding foundation of trust has held firm throughout recent periods of adaptation. In their 43-year history, the Team has collected relationships, not clients. This trust is not just valuable when selling, but also when called upon to destroy property or take things out of circulation. However, a highlight of what they do is keeping things out of landfills. Even broken machinery has salvageable parts, and Stuart and Tim are experts at repurposing and sparing potential items from unnecessary destruction.
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This is how they find themselves pulling together and selling anything from beauty products to food items, to clothing and warehouse equipment. Is there anything they will not sell? “We don’t buy office furniture. We don’t buy used stuff. And we don’t liquidate estates,” says Stuart. The variety and flexibility certainly keep things interesting. “It’s a fun business,” says Tim. “To have an occupation where you look forward to going to work every day – this is joy,” adds Stuart.
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Raritan Center businesses looking for help with damaged, surplus, or abandoned merchandise are encouraged to give Stuart and Tim a call to see how they can help. They can be reached at 732-225-9333 or colonytradinginc@gmail.com. Or contact them through their website, ColonyTrading.com.
August 2025