Five Woolworths stores in Northern Ireland were among the first wave of outlets across the UK closing for the final time today.
The branches in Armagh, Ballymena, Enniskillen, Lurgan and Newry were among 200 shutting down and putting scores of workers out of work.
By January 5th, 17 local branches will have closed, unless there is a last-minute offer to administrators Deloitte to rescue some of the outlets.
In total the closedown will mean the loss of 620 jobs in Northern Ireland where new unemployment benefit claims rocketed this month by their fastest in almost 30 years.
Across the nation 27,000 people are losing their jobs at the 99-year-old chain store.
Woolworth's called in the administrator last month as mounting debts headed towards £400 million.
Pat Kelly, a retired former manager of the Armagh branch said the Northern Ireland stores used to be among the company's top performers.
"Everybody is very, very upset about the whole situation," he said.
"The stores in Northern Ireland were always the top stores in performance, both in sales and profit, in the company."
Administrators began closing stores throughout the UK today.
The household name, which sold everything from chocolate bars to toasters and televisions, is the highest profile retail casualty of the global financial crisis and Britain's economic downturn.
Several high profile British retailers, including Zavvi, Whittard, and The Officer's Club, have been forced into administration in the lead-up to Christmas.
Shoppers flocked to British stores yesterday to make the most of record discounts as retailers tried to make up for dismal trading. However, the buying flurry is unlikely to stave off a sharp recession.
The Centre for Economics and Business Research, an independent group of economists, yesterday predicted the economy would shrink by 2.9 per cent in 2009 - more than at any time since 1946.
PA, Reuters