The Ottawa independent music company CD Warehouse announced its two remaining stores will close for good in the spring of 2015.

The company, which has been a fixture of the Ottawa music industry since opening in 1991, was one of the largest independent music retailers in the city.

Earlier this year, the retailer closed its location on St. Laurent Boulevard but retained stores in Nepean and Kanata.

But in a message to customers sent Tuesday, owners Stephen Bleeker and Janice McDonald said they would be closing their doors for good in 2015.

The couple thanked their customers for support "while the industry has gone through substantial shifts."

CD and record retailers in general have been hurting as more music sales go online. National independent Sam the Record Man closed all but one of its stores — including its flagship location in Toronto — in 2007.

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'We knew this day would come,' owner says

Bleeker and his wife made plans about the store during their honeymoon more than two decades ago.

"It was back in the early '90s, back when the warehouse concept was just coming in and CDs were just taking off. And we thought, why don't we do a great big store that sells nothing but CDs, which was kind of novel at the time," Bleeker said.

Customer Jim Sarcevich says he'll miss shopping for DVDs at CD Warehouse. (CBC) Business was good for a time, and so the company expanded with two more locations in Ottawa and, briefly, a location in Kingston, Ont. But the business has changed since then.

"I think there's no surprise that the industry's been going through a lot of changes over the last few years, and it's something that we've been monitoring on a yearly basis," Bleeker said. "We knew this day would come, we just didn't know exactly how soon it would be."

Jim Sarcevich, who has been a customer at CD Warehouse for more than 10 years, said he's "not too happy" about the upcoming closures.

"I've been coming here for many, many years. I've ordered a lot of movies through here and it's kind of disappointing to hear that they're actually closing the store," he said.

"I would rather come in and actually look at all the movies and spend some time looking at all the titles. That's the enjoyment I get out of it, actually. I guess I should have seen it coming."