The latest industry threatened by the explosion of tech is auctioning. But after this weekend, you’ll likely find Ray and Gerry Holt traveling in an RV, without much concern of how auctioning will adapt.

While Ray has Minnesota, Wisconsin and other parts of Colorado in mind, he added they’ll hit the road and “just kind of go wherever we decide we want to go,” he said. “And if we decide to park at some place for a few days, a week, whatever. We’ll see how that goes.”

Holt & Associates will have its final on-site auction Saturday after selling its warehouse at 704 Arrawanna St. that’s become increasingly unnecessary as buyers turn to the web to find possessions of their desire.

With 290 registered bidders, the couple will sell guns, motorcycles, trucks and taxidermy mounts. When it came to selecting items that would be a part of the auction, Ray said, “In a way, it’s kind of like going fishing because you never know who is looking for that particular thing.”

In the past, auctions were an event, complete with neighbors and baked pies provided by the church. “Pickers,” or people who attend auctions to buy items for someone else, would flock from nearby cities. Over time, the Holts noticed a couple of pickers typically in search of kitchen items, and they became dear friends. Now, the social gathering is left behind.

“It becomes very cold and hard, and strictly an economic type thing,” Ray said. “I find that very disturbing.”

And that’s if buyers turn to auctions. Retailers have become a far more threatening competitor to auctions than they were before. In recent years, Ikea, Sears, Walmart and others have made furniture and other goods available on layaway with delivery provided. At auctions, items are paid for upfront, and buyers have to transport their purchase themselves. People “want stuff like now,” Ray said. “So that changed how the sale worked and it was affected. And badly affected.”

The Holts didn’t enter the auction industry for the profits though. Ray switched out of his architecture career when he was 40, drawn to the idea of helping children whose parents had died. In instances where the parents’ business involved valuable tools that had been left behind, Ray said the company would “do whatever was necessary to maximize the return for the kids.”

Ray initially worked in architecture, with his career spanning from assistance with the layout and construction of the Air Force Academy to the Chapel Hills Mall. Both worked on The Citadel mall, with Gerry adding the logo work. Eventually, Ray found himself as general manager of an engineering and architecture company, and decided to leave.

“I just reached a point where I felt like I’d done all that I needed to do and I was just primarily baby-sitting a group of professionals,” Holt said. “So, the challenge for me was gone. I’d done what I wanted to do.”

Holt believes he experienced the best times in auctioning, but is still excited about the future that lies ahead for his son Kevin as he takes over the business. Photos and videos have combated the expense of having a facility and moving items. Rather than go through those efforts, more auctioneers are leaving items in place until they’re sold.

“The whole industry is changing rapidly, but (Kevin) likes all that computer stuff,” Ray said.