Shelves were stripped bare in Debenhams and staff reduced to tears as the shutters started coming down on more than 240 years of history this week.
Nicola Rice, 35, who works in the collapsed retailer's Sheffield city centre store, is one of 12,000 workers who've lost their jobs.
The mum, who'd worked there since leaving school, admitted: "I'm going to cry when the shutters come down on Saturday.
"I love our regular customers and they say coming to see us and having a chat has been the highlight of their day.
"It's been so sad here especially when they started closing off the floors where people have worked for years.
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© Julian Hamilton/Daily MirrorStaff member Nicola Rice is losing her job as the Debenhams on the High street in Sheffield closes for the last time
"Sadly I think it was stuck in at time warp, but in a nice way!"
Nicola, who said she'd worked at the store "on and off for 20 years",
added: "This was always a safe place to come back to work. I haven't found another job yet and I've lost my safety net now."
On Wednesday, 21 Debenham branches shut for good, including Barrow-in-Furness, Blackburn, Bournemouth, Carlisle, Chesterfield, Doncaster, Guildford, Lichfield, Mansfield, Preston, Scarborough and Warrington.
© Julian Hamilton/Daily MirrorShelves have been stripped bare
The final 28 stores - including Sheffield - will shut this Saturday.
The company had battled administration and bankruptcy before eventually being bought out by online retailers Boohoo for £55 million in January.
On Wednesday, hazard tape sealed off vast parts of the Sheffield store left empty, with the menswear escalator cut off by red barriers with a note saying "stock sold out".
The make up counters were being torn down by a man wearing a high vis jacket, as shoppers searched through the stock left under signs reading "everything must go".
© Julian Hamilton/Daily MirrorPatricia Gomez had shopped at the store for 40 years
Mum-of-two, Patricia Gonez, 59, said she had been shopping at the huge city centre store for around forty years.
"I've been eight or nine times in the last two weeks both to get a bargain and to say goodbye. I told the staff I was sorry they were going," she said.
'I can't believe it's going. I bought my children's Holy Communion outfits and my daughter's prom dress here.
"I've bought two dresses for my brother's wedding today. It's so sad."
© Julian Hamilton/Daily MirrorLauren Shaw bumped into a pal at the store
Locals told of their fears of what will fill the empty space, after recently losing John Lewis and seeing around 15 other important stores close locally.
Lauren Shaw, 30, said stores like Debenhams were vital for the community after bumping into a pal she hadn't seen in 12 years outside the store.
"I do a lot of shopping online but stores like this bring people into the city and it brings the community together," she said. "If I hadn't come into town I would not have bumped into her."
Rachel Shorley, a civil servant, also 30, added: "They are rejuvenating the city so I just think we need to be patient."
© Julian Hamilton/Daily MirrorDavid Marsh said it was 'depressing'
But retired M&S worker, David Marsh, aged 80, said: "With John Lewis closing down too, it's depressing.
"I'm worried it's damaged the heart of Sheffield. It's another blow.
"Hopefully the public will come back to the High Street, because it has improved vastly over the years."
Debenhams opened in Sheffield in 1971 and yesterday customers told of their fears its closure could "break" the heart of their city.
© Julian Hamilton/Daily MirrorFloors are being cleared one by one
© Julian Hamilton/Daily MirrorBargain hunters are snapping up the last few items
The retailer was bought by a trio of private equity barons in 2003 for £600million.
They made a staggering return less than three years later by banking £1.2billion when it floated on the stock market.
Yet by that time Debenhams' debts had ballooned from £100million to £1billion.
© Julian Hamilton/Daily MirrorAreas are being cordoned off
© Julian Hamilton/Daily MirrorOnce bustling departments are now empty shells
Independent retail consultant Richard Hyman told the Mirror: "The writing has been on the wall for Debenhams for an awfully long time.
"Its sales were too weak and its ranges were not very relevant.
"But the pivotal issue was the level of debt it had, which was completely unsustainable.
"The cost of servicing that debt meant it had no money to invest."
But amid the gloom, there is hope for some of the branches with the Bournemouth store being revived as Bobby's, as it was originally in 1972 before it turned into Debenhams.