Estate sale clears house, not memories

Karen Matuza and her sister Jennifer Dimonda have held tag sales before. So they knew it would be a good idea when they decided to use an estate sale to clear out their Aunt Martha Kinczel’s house after she moved into a nursing home last October.

“She was collector years ago,” Matuza said of her 86-year-old aunt. “She wasn’t quick to part with things.”

Everything from miniature HD televisions to mahogany tables were price-tagged and ready to move out the door Friday, thanks largely to Denise LoSquadro of Sisters in Charge, an estate sale company based out of Centereach.

At one point LoSquadro haggled with an elderly gentleman over a large area rug. The man wanted a deal because he had waited an hour-and-a-half in line to get into the house.

“I find through this business that, for people, shopping is their friend,” said LoSquadro, who says her insight comes from more than 10 years in the business. “If people are lonely, if they have a loss, or are living by themselves, shopping becomes their friend for that night.” 

Matuza said that was the case for her aunt. She purchased more than 1,000 pairs of shoes in her lifetime, according to LoSquadro.

The sale will continue at 81 Stewart Ave., from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.