WELLINGTON, Fla., June 2, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Neal Taslitz, the designer of Michael Jordan's ergonomic chair now being auctioned on eBay, says the interest is much greater than initially anticipated. Taslitz stated: "I expect the bidding process to start a few hours before the auction closes at 11 p.m. EST on Sunday June 5th, which is typical of many high ticket items on eBay."
The number of visits on the eBay site surpassed the 5,000 mark on Wed. June 1st, with over 100 people placing the chair on their eBay watch list. Typically, those on the watch list are the people who are most likely to bid on the item. With eBay's rapid turbo computer generated bidding, many believe it could all come down to the last few minutes of the auction.
A photo accompanying this release is available at: http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=1657
Taslitz expects the chair to be sold to a Jordan fan in Chicago or North Carolina, both places that are associated with Mr. Jordan's career. According to a recent report in the Washington Post, Michael Jordan was overheard saying he would like to see his chair go to Abe Pollin. Mr. Pollin is the owner of the Washington Wizard's basketball team, and Jordan's former employer. Taslitz added: "It would be great if the chair was put on display at the Smithsonian in Washington."
Jordan's chair was first put on display in 1997 in the lobby of Chicago's Merchandise Mart. Taslitz believes a logical place for the chair to be displayed would be the Merchandise Mart and/or the Furniture Mart in High Point, North Carolina. People in those places really appreciate furniture and are extremely proud of Michael Jordan's relationship to their region.
When Taslitz decided to place the chair on eBay a short time ago, he had no idea of the firestorm of national publicity that would follow. Since the chair was first posted to eBay, Taslitz has been working 20 hour days, trying to keep up with all that needs to be done to auction a celebrity item. According to Taslitz, top management at eBay, and Bell South have really helped him get things up and running. He has also had a team of two people assisting him. Now it's all up to the fans.
The photo is also available at NewsCom, www.newscom.com, and via AP PhotoExpress.
