Art and Furniture Transport, Storage, and Installation Since 1994.
Jules Smith started the original incarnation of Annie Hauls in 1994. He spent ten years dealing antiques in New Hope, PA, at his shop "Atlanta Annie's". Jules bought a van to deliver the pieces he sold, and soon found himself doing deliveries for all of the other dealers in town. He decided to go with it, so he closed down shop and "Annie Hauls" was born.
Jules had a textbook knowledge of art history, and because of his passion for art and antiques he brought a much needed thoughtfulness to the transport business. Sadly, Jules passed away in 2016, but his long term employee Michael Topley took over shortly after.
Mike Topley - Owner and Logistics
Originally from Titusville, NJ, Mike has lived in Lambertville since 2008. Mike is the current owner of Annie Hauls and worked under Jules’ tutelage for about 4 years before taking over in 2016. His fascination with art brings a necessary enthusiasm to his daily work ethic. In his free time, Mike is an active artist + musician making music + art under various pseudonyms.
Mike Witwer - Art Handler
Mike Witwer is an avid record collector and NJ Devils fan who has an appreciation for art in all forms. Since joining the Annie Hauls team in October 2018, he has been served well by the keen attention to detail he developed during his previous 10-year career as a record appraiser. In his spare time, he can be found solving the New York Times crossword puzzle, or proudly walking his pitbull, Millie.
Joe Brendel - Art Handler
Joe has been a member of the Annie Hauls team since 2016. As both an active musician and administrator at a community art space, he is conscious of the roles that the creative process and its resulting objects of beauty fulfill in bringing people together.
Jules Smith - Founder (1956-2016)
Prior to his move to the New Hope area, Jules worked as a DJ in popular dance clubs around the city and befriended a woman known around town as “Atlanta Annie”. Little is known about this person other than her name and that she had a thick southern accent. After accidentally stumbling upon and moving to New Hope, Jules opened up a small retail shop selling mostly art deco/modern furniture and named his shop Atlanta Annie’s, a nod to his friend back in Atlanta.
About ten years after opening Atlanta Annie’s, Jules closed shop citing “retail burnout”. Jules had always had a van as a necessity for him to pick up his pieces that he found all over Pennsylvania + surrounding areas at flea markets, swap meets, auctions, etc. He found that each time he sold a piece from his shop, no one had a way of getting it to their desired destination so Jules would tack on a delivery fee to run the piece to the person who had bought it. Very naturally, Jules rolled Atlanta Annie’s into a delivery service and Atlanta Annie’s... became Annie Hauls.
Jules had a textbook knowledge of art history, and because of his passion for art and antiques, brought a much needed thoughtfulness to the transport business. Sadly, Jules passed away suddenly in 2016. After the initial shock of his untimely passing, his long time employee Michael Topley took ownership of Annie Hauls and retained Jules’ rolodex that he had spent the past 25 years building.
