Guitars worth thousands go under the hammer after failure of top Midlands music shop

Stony Stratford-based Hollywood Music - which was a favourite with musicians from across Northamptonshire - 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 Eddisons CJM Auction Centre in North Lincolnshire in preparation for the online auction in July 24. It will be sold in178 lots.

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 - and it had a well-regarded internet business too.”

“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.

"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.”

“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 or Northamptonshire or 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 on the Eddisons industrial auctioneers' website. The online auction is scheduled to close at 6pm on July 24.