Store fittings auctioned

Press, 31 January 1983, Page 6

Store fittings auctioned

Many memories went under the hammer at an auction of fixtures and fittings from the old store of Drayton-Jones, Ltd. on Saturday.' The store’s main staircase and bannisters, light fittings, old cash registers, and ornate counters, which have been part of its 62-year history, were sold. Demolition contractors will move into the 82-year-old building on February 5. The new owner of the business, Mr B. A. Currie, plans new two-storey premises on the site, at the corner of Colombo Street and Lichfield Street, to rehouse the furnisher and clothes store.

About 250 people attended .the SVz-hour auction. The shop had been “virtually cleaned out,” said Mr Currie. Some people had needed chainsaws and hammers to remove their purchases. - “It is very sad looking inside the building now,” he

said. The main staircase and bannisters fetched $4OO. Other prices included: $1075 for a diesel generator; $lO5 for an electric hoist; up to $lO5 for light fittings, $6O to $7O for cash registers, including one that was about 45 years old; $9O for an oak desk; $9O to $l2O for glassfronted display cabinets and counters; and $9O for three plaster dummies.

The auctioneer, Mr Albert Sprott, of Warwick Todd, Ltd, said prices were most satisfactory, and bidding had been brisk.

As well as the public, people from shop fitting and retail firms had also at; tended, he said. The firm was founded 62 years ago by Mr A. S. Drayton. His sons, Messrs George and Eddie Drayton, had spent 44 years and 30 years respectively in the business before they retired and sold it to Mr Currie at the end of last year.