AN independent shop in Winchester is closing after 22 years with lockdown blamed as the "final nail in the retail coffin".

Hayward Guitars on Stockbridge Road is shutting on May 31 after sales plummeted and with rent increases.

Owner Brian Hayward said: "Lockdown was the final nail in the retail coffin. Everyone has got used to buying online or at the very least, trying something in a shop then buying it online.

Hampshire Chronicle: Brian Hayward in his new home workshop

"The days of the little independents are well and truly gone. Sales have been awful this year. People come in and look at the price and think 'I can get this cheaper online' but the fact is, online guitars come out of the warehouse and they haven't been touched by human hands and they're not playable, so a lot of my work is setting up guitars that people have bought online that don't work, so in that respect, it's a bit of a false economy."

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Brian, 59, has prepared his future by building a workshop at home in Winchester, where he says his biggest income comes from. He said: "I've got to the point where I think, 'how much longer can I do this before I go completely mad'. Building a business over 22 years, which started as a hobby is quite an achievement, but you get to a point where it's more grief and not a lot of return.

"Going back some years, I thought this is going to go a bit wrong, so I built a little workshop at home as it's not viable for me to keep this place going with bills going up, so really I just need workshop pace to work, so I'm closing the retail side and moving the workshop to my new workshop.

Hampshire Chronicle: Hayward Guitars to close in Winchester

"I'm OK about closing. I've seen it coming and have had time to plan, so it's not all bad. It's been great. I've met loads of nice people, lots of customers and loads of work, but really the business can't exist with just one part of the business.

"It's all loss for retail but at one point, there were five music shops in Winchester, but you can't keep it going with rent, rates and a lack of footfall".

He was also critical of the Business Improvement District: "The BID take my money and that is all they do. when you do have a problem they do absolutely nothing."

Executive director of the BID, Dr Paul Spencer said: "Stockbridge Road will not be the same without Hayward Guitars. I brought my first guitar from Brian Hayward as a teenager many years ago and the shop will be greatly missed."

For questions about guitar repairs, you can call Brian on: 07379139307 or email info@haywardguitars.com.

The guitar shop currently has a sale on.

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