The Contra Costa Times reports this afternoon that 20th Century Props has decided to close its business. With an inventory of over 91,000 pieces, items are expected to be auctioned off in late July.
Tony Castro of The Times reports that founder and owner Harvey Schwartz this week made the decision to close the company, suffering from the recession as well as the Screen Actors Guild labor dispute which was resolved this week (which has been ongoing for about a year – see “Potential Actors’ Strike Looms: “Sequel” to Writers’ Strike?“).
28 full time employees have lost their jobs and Mr. Schwartz claims losses for over 12 consecutive months, amounting to over $2 million.
The story reports that items from the 200,000 square foot warehouse will be offered at auction in the last four days of July (though no details as to auctioneer or venue are noted). The collection is insured at $8 million but valued as high as $30 million. Included is the 20th Century Fox Studio prop department purchased by Mr. Schwartz in 1994.
The full story can be found at ContraCostaTimes.com:
Learn more about 20th Century Props at 20thCenturyProps.com. They also operate an eBay store as 20thcenturyprops.
Jason DeBord