The Dealer’s Auto Auction of Mobile decided to employ alternative methods to stir up local interest in its public sale on Thursday.

The auction’s general manager, Al Praitano, previewed the day’s spoils via the airwaves on Mobile’s local station 95 KSJ.

“We were looking for something fun and different to engage the community for our GSA Sale,” Praitano said. “Our local radio station offered up a remote broadcast from the public GSA Sale staging area and we thought that some country music and fried chicken might be the perfect ‘Southern draw’ for the city to view our public sale inventory.”

Praitano said the initial attraction to one of the most classic forms of advertisement was the potential to reach an average of 9,000 listeners every time the public auction was mentioned. David Andrews, the chief executive officer of City Enterprises LLC, who was on the air with Praitano, was thrilled with the unexpected exposure that radio still receives.

“The numbers the station supplied surprised me,” Praitano said. “We realized our remote broadcast with WKSJ-FM had the potential to reach over 35,000 listeners during an afternoon live remote broadcast.

“When trying to reach the public from our usual position as a dealer-only auction, it is challenging to find ways to interest and involve the public,” Praitano added.

DAA Mobile hosts its dealer sales every Thursday at 9 a.m. with monthly GSA sales that are open to the public.