Stock from Coney’s of Spalding will be going auctioned in Scunthorpe

Beauty products left over from the demise of a much-loved department store will be going under the hammer this week.

Coney's, previously Hills of Spalding, shut its doors for the final time in May after a bid to save the Broad Street store failed due to ‘rising costs and declining sales’.

The store was taken over by Scott Crowson in late 2020 after the previous owners had announced it was shutting.

Now fragrances, cosmetics and beauty products with a retail value of £200,000 will be sold via auction in Scunthorpe.

Kingsbridge Corporate Solutions of Lincoln, the specialists handling the winding up of the business, have now ordered the disposal of the entire remaining stock – which has been moved from the store’s Broad Street premises to the Eddisons Auction Centre in Scunthorpe.

Eddisons director Paul Cooper said: “Emptying a department store – perhaps three quarters of a million pounds worth of cosmetics, homewares, clothing, footwear, wines and spirits and the rest - is an interesting logistical operation. It took two articulated lorries and a fleet of removal vans three days to achieve the transfer.

“The auction centre is absolutely packed – but it does smell delightfully fragrant!”

The stock is to be sold in a series of on-line auctions, the first of which is the two-day sale of the contents of the Coney’s Beauty Department that is to take place on Tuesday and Wednesday (September 26 and 27).

The auction extends to 782 lots from some of the world’s most famous luxury brands: Dior, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Valentino, Estee Lauder, Jean Paul Gaultier, Giorgio Armani and others.

It includes a vast range of perfumery, cosmetics and upmarket body care products.

There are also quite a number of gift sets providing various combinations.

Paul said: “Almost all of their creations usually have hefty price tags attached. The auction includes for example, one men’s fragrance - Royal Water - made by the Parisian perfume house Creed, that has a recommended retail price of £265 – and that’s for just a 125mls bottle.

“The expectation is that the items in this exclusively online auction will make about half of normal high street prices when they go under the hammer.”

The catalogue is available online at auctions.eddisons.com. Bidding is scheduled to close at 1pm on both Tuesday and Wednesday.