PHOTO
Going, going, gone!
The auction hammer will be dropping on H&J Smith’s shop fittings today as 160 lots are offered for sale.
H&J general manager commercial Morris Gilbertson said while the store officially closed last November, a small cleanup crew was working behind the scenes finalising operations.
It was the end of an era for Mr Gilbertson, who had worked for the company for 40 years.
"It’s a different business now ... It’s no longer trading so we just refocused to the job that needs to be done and I’ve got a small team helping me out over the next few months to get through."
He expected there would be too many shop fittings for the Southland retail sector to absorb.
"That’s going to be challenging because there’s a lot of volume in some of those fixtures and fittings. So we’re hoping that others from the Otago and Southland region will be interested in coming down and are looking to buy some of those," he said.
"I think that because it has the H&J Smith name on it, and we’ve been in business for such a long time, that in itself will generate a lot of interest."
Mr Gilbertson said the auction would be the first of two held to sell off the company assets. There were too many lots to sell in one
session.
The first catalogue comprised front-of-house items such as shop fittings including clothing stands, chairs, tables, counters, display stands and mannequins.
He expected mannequins to draw the most attention from buyers.
"They always seem to be very popular ... people use mannequins and all sorts of things like dressmaking, even people who are buying and selling clothes on second-hand markets ... arty people like them to create art out of them."
The second auction would comprise all the store’s "back of house" plant which included tools, ladders and office equipment.
Both auctions will include items from the company’s Queenstown and Te Anau operations.
Stock from the Dunedin and Gore stores has been sold from the Gore site.
William Todd & Co (2011) Ltd co-owner and auctioneer Lynzy Francis expected a lot of interest in the sale as the public and retailers from around the country seek to secure some of the last pieces of the century-old company’s assets.
Mr Francis was adamant only those present at the auction would be able to bid.
"Todd’s don’t do online auctions, otherwise they don’t need an auction here and we spend too much time in front of screens now," he said.
"There’s no atmosphere and you can’t have a conversation — all the things that are missing in life
now."
He had received inquiries from across the country about the sale and was confident everything would be sold by the end of the day because he said the store was well-known for stocking good-quality products.
He also expected the mannequins to be the most popular item. They normally retailed for about $2000 and past auctions indicated they usually sold for between $200 and $500.
By Toni McDonald