SHOPPERS visited HMV in Oxford for the last time before the music store closed its doors for good yesterday.

Administrators announced in January the Cornmarket Street store would shut in March, but the closure date was then extended until yesterday when staff shut up shop for the last time at 6.30pm.

The chain, which has struggled to cope with competition from the Internet and supermarkets, says it has been looking for an alternative trading location in Oxford but so far there has been no announcement.

Shopping there for the last time, David Engwell, 42, a commercial lawyer from Oxford, said: “HMV has not been quick enough to adapt and sell online.”

Graham Jones, of the city traders’ group ROX, said it was important that a new retailer was found quickly to occupy the space.

He added: “It’s a prime site, bang in the middle of Cornmarket, so we don’t want it to be empty for too long.”

HMV spokesman Laura Thomas said: “There are 24 members of staff in our Oxford store who are all being redeployed to nearby stores while we continue to be hopeful of finding a new site in Oxford.”

Other HMV stores in the area include Castle Street in Banbury, the Oracle shopping centre in Reading, and the Eden centre in High Wycombe.

The chain went into administration last year but was saved when UK firm Hilco made a £50m rescue deal with administrators Deloitte. HMV opened in Oxford in the late 1980s.

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