Staff at HMV’s flagship Manchester store have said they are ‘gutted’ after finding out administrators plan to close it down.

Nearly 50 workers are facing redundancy after it was announced the Market Street shop – HMV’s last in the city centre – is to be shut down.

Staff said they expected it to be kept open for several more weeks to sell off as much of the stock as possible.

They were only told the store was closing yesterday morning, while representatives from administrators Deloitte arrived for talks with managers at midday. The shop, which has been open at the top of Market Street for more than 20 years, currently has a sale on most stock with some shelves already empty.

One staff member, who has worked for HMV for more than 15 years, said: “We can’t understand why this one store is closing when we still get a lot of people in and it still makes a lot of money – I guess it comes down to the rent. I would think we’ll stay open another four to six weeks to sell everything until there’s nothing left. I’ve got a mortgage to pay, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Another staff member said: “Kids download music for free illegally and think it’s ok because everyone does it – but we are the victims of that.

“We have customers who come in every day, sometimes just to say Hello – it’s like a club or a family in here.”

A third staff member said: “The mood here is pretty grim – there’s been a lot of gallows humour today. We’re gutted.”

Customers said they were shocked by the news.

Anthony Williams, 24, from Salford, had dropped in to buy a CD on his way home from work.

He said: “They seem to be shutting down the HMVs in city centres, not shopping centres, which doesn’t seem a good move if they are trying to recoup losses. They must get a lot of customers in this store – I shop here regularly and find the DVDs are cheaper than Amazon.

“It’s really sad that it’s closing.”

Student Gabriel Mayr, 25, from Rusholme, said: “It’s very disappointing that they’re closing this store. I don’t think HMV did too much wrong – I think it was the music industry.”

Administrators Deloitte also announced HMV stores in Ashton-under-Lyne, Rochdale and Wigan will close, affecting 29 jobs. But the company’s Trafford Centre, Bury and Bolton branches will remain open.

All the HMV stores identified for closure will shut over the next eight weeks. Fopp Records, which has a branch just off Market Street and is also owned by HMV, also faces uncertainty.

Joint administrator Nick Edwards said: “As part of our ongoing review of HMV’s financial position, we have now completed a review of the store portfolio and have identified 66 loss-making stores for closure.

“This step has been taken in order to enhance the prospects of securing the business’ future as a going concern. We continue to receive strong support from staff and are extremely grateful to them for their commitment during an understandably difficult period.”