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Guitar shop closes after tribute to much-loved owner

Georgie Docker,North West and
Michelle Adamson,North West
News imageBBC Three women. Dan's mum wears a pink hoodie and has short brown hair, his stepdaughter Scarlett has long blonde hair and is wearing all black. Dan's wife Ruth wears a black hoodie and has long brown hair.BBC
Dan Hepner's family invited friends and customers to his shop for one last time on Saturday. (Pictured left to right: Dan's mum Sue Hepner, stepdaughter Scarlett Stott and wife Ruth Hepner)

The family of a guitar shop owner who died two months ago opened his store one last time to allow friends and customers to pay tribute to him and say goodbye.

Dan Hepner ran Live Louder in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, for nearly 10 years before his death, aged 51, in November.

His family hosted a closing-down event at the town-centre shop on Saturday and people travelled from near and far to celebrate Dan and his business.

Ruth Hepner said she had been "overwhelmed" by the love shown for her late husband, telling BBC Radio Manchester: "I'm touched because so many people loved Dan. He was the top one - the life and soul of the party. He just loved life."

News imageRuth Hepner Black-and-white photo of Dan. He has long dark hair and is playing a guitar while looking at something out of shot.Ruth Hepner
Dan had been the owner of Altrincham Live Louder for nearly 10 years before he died following a short illness in December

Dan's 18-year-old stepdaughter Scarlett Stott said: "Everybody loved Dan - he treated customers like friends - they were his people - and he just bonded with them so quickly.

"We just thought it would be a really nice way to celebrate Dan.

"My mum and I arranged it and honestly for us it was just a celebration of Dan and his business and all of his achievements.

"But also it's for people to have that last chance to buy from him - that they might've missed out on before."

Scarlett said news of the shop's final opening had travelled far and wide.

"We've had a few people saying they're coming from abroad," she said on the morning of the event.

"We had one person coming from Switzerland to buy two guitars.

"We can't now ship abroad, but everybody is that excited to buy from Dan they'd come from anywhere I think."

She added: "It's been a really difficult day, but it's been a nice turnout and a lot of people sharing nice stories about him, which is lovely."

News imageScarlett, who is 18, has dark blonde long straight hair. She wears a black t-shirt and two necklaces and stands in front of a wall in the guitar shop.
Dan's stepdaughter Scarlett, 18, worked at Live Louder for five years

Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester at the event, a close friend of Dan's, Mark Mynett, described him as "a warm, lovely human being".

"I've known Dan for about 25 years," he said. "I have such wonderful memories of that.

"He had so much empathy, he had so much warmth, he was a genuinely lovely person and he was always interesting.

"It means a lot to pay tribute to a person that meant a lot to me on the last day that Dan's shop is open.

"And I know it would mean the world to Dan for him to know that I was here and that's a shared thing because Dan meant something to a lot of people."

News imageMan with grey hair and a long beard stands in front of a wall of guitars.
Dan's long-time friend, Mark Mynett, said he was "just a lovely guy"

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