Dowsons Shoes is closing all of its remaining stores, citing the difficult retail environment.

Christchurch company Dowsons Shoes is shutting its stores for good after 82 years in business across the South Island.

A message on the company's website says the business will cease trading and will run a clearance sale at its remaining stores until stocks run out.

"Retail has changed dramatically over the years and that change seems to be accelerating," it says.

"The family has made the decision to cease trading in Footwear in 2020. Retail has been good to us and it's time for us to hang up the boots and move on to other things.

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"To our customers and staff, Thank you for 82 years of memories."

The company's online shop has already closed.

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The five Dowsons Shoes stores left before the closure announcement were in Nelson, Dunedin and Invercargill, and at Church Corner and The Hub Hornby in Christchurch.

The company's website says Knox Dowson opened his first premises in Ferry Rd, Christchurch, in 1938.

"During the Second World War, Knox diverted his efforts into supporting the war effort by supplying troops with boots and shoes. After the war, Knox saw an opportunity to begin selling footwear from the front of his Ferry Rd Factory," it says.

The company began expanding through the South Island and Wellington area in 1995.

Its Timaru branch closed in January, while the Blenheim store closed in August last year, and the North Island's Lower Hutt branch in 2011.

​Dowsons Shoes' executives Adam Dowson and Knox Dowson declined to comment on the closure of the Timaru store at the time.