End of Road for Award-winning Bucks Firm

An award-winning Milton Keynes musical instrument retailer will reach the end of the road when its entire stock goes under the hammer in an online auction next week.

Hollywood Music based on the High Street in Stony Stratford, went into liquidation last month.

In a last posting on the firm’s Facebook page director Jon Evans reported: ‘Hollywood Music has now closed permanently. It’s a great shame but business has been declining over the past three years as the economic climate has deteriorated.”

“High streets are suffering due to a number of factors that have restricted consumers’ disposable income significantly. Even our on-line sales have declined so I don’t blame the Internet, as many do.”

The liquidators handling the winding up of the business have now instructed leading industrial auctioneers Eddisons CJM to sell off the remaining stock of instruments and equipment valued at over £50,000.

The stock has been moved to the Eddison CJM Auction Centre in Scunthope where it will go under the hammer in 178 lots in the online auction that closes on Wednesday 24th July

Auctioneer Paul Cooper said: “The firm’s closure underlines how difficult things are on the High Street at the moment. Hollywood Music had a wide regional customer base that involved not only Buckinghamshire but surrounding counties too – and it had a well regarded Internet business.”

“The sale includes some serious electric guitars, which had price tags of up to £1,600, acoustic guitars, a range of ukuleles and a banjo or two, as well as keyboards, synthesisers, amps, drum machines and other accessories. The total retail value tops £50,000.”

“Everything is being auctioned without reserve so it will go for what it goes for. Normally we would expect retail stock going under the hammer in a disposal sale to make 20%-50% of recommended retail value. There is some very nice kit on offer in this auction and that may do rather better but I would imagine there will also be some bargains.”

Paul added:  “One thing I would flag up is that although the stock has had to be moved up to North Lincolnshire this is an exclusively online auction  - which means of course that Hollywood Music’s customers based in Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Northants and indeed elsewhere in the country have just as good a chance to get involved in the bidding as anyone else.”

The full auction catalogue is available at www.eddisonscjm.com. The online auction is scheduled to close at 6pm on Wednesday 24th July.