Butcher shop staff told the Oamaru Mail they were "very" disappointed but were giving it their all as they served their disappointed customers.
The Alliance stores at Pukeuri and Timaru are to cease trading from 5pm today.
Pukeuri Butcher Shop assistant Lavina Stringer said that after nearly five years on the job, calling time was "very, very sad".
"It’s been very busy since people heard the shop was closing," she said.
"Because we love the job we want to see the customers happy till the very end, and for our manager."
Fellow staff member Viki McLaren said their manager Bonita Chellew had been "the best" and was the only one who had chosen to stay, at the online shop replacement.
The others, including 12-year shop veteran Fiona Robbie, were looking elsewhere after declining redeployment by Alliance.
Alliance promoted the closure last month as a way to focus on its core business.
But some of the last shoppers at Pukeuri said they were less than impressed by the loss of face-to-face service.
Regular Waimate shopper at Pukeuri, Maureen Tonkin, said she was "absolutely disappointed".
"Do they necessarily have to close?" she asked.
Casey and Margaret Staps, also of Waimate, said the quality and price had kept them coming back and they were "p..... off" about the closure.
"Heaps of people are," Mrs Staps said, while praising sterling service over many years from the Pukeuri store staff.
Mr Staps said the replacement online store option did not appeal to them.
Mrs Stringer said the store had always offered a good discount to gold card holders.
Many of their older customers had said the chances of them going online to buy meat was slim because they liked to physically see what they were buying.
Mrs McLaren said the closure "sucks".
"I was hoping to retire here. I left a job of 22 years to come here," she said.
