Gloucestershire music shop shuts down and goes up for sale

A small independent music shop in the centre of Cheltenham has gone up for sale.

Millennium Music is due to close next Tuesday (18 August) after 20 years of trading. It sells instruments, but specialises guitars and ukeleles, as well as sheet music, music-related gifts and other little knick knacks.

The business reportedly succumbed to the weight of online shopping, with not enough people wanting to buy their instruments on the high street.

Andrew-Owen Price runs the shop with his wife Gillian told the Gloucestershire Echo: "We bought the business about 15 years ago from the people who set it up, and it's been going in total for about 20 years.

"As one of the long-established musical instruments shops across the UK, we have witnessed the change from local to internet shopping. Over a third of musical instrument shops in the UK have closed during the last five years."

He said the couple are now going to be starting an online retail business, while the premises they leave behind in Winchombe Street is available for other entrepreneurs to turn into a new business venture.

Mr Price added: "We have loved being Millennium Music and will very much miss many of our best customers who have changed from customers into friends over the years."