THE city’s most iconic shop said a sad goodbye to its customers on Saturday, after a frantic final day of trading.

Lewis’s, which is set to become a boutique hotel and office complex, has stood as a retail giant on Ranelagh Street since 1856.

As the closing down sale came to an end on Saturday afternoon, queues of bargain hunters snaked around the shop floor, forcing staff to stay open an extra 45 minutes.

Sales assistant Donna Tambourini has worked at Lewis’s since she was a teenager.

She told the Daily Post: “I joined on a placement from the YTS scheme just two weeks off my 16th birthday.

“I’ve been there for the last 24 years from 15 to 39 years of age, I’ve grown up there. They were like my extended family.”

She added: “It was dead busy, really I didn’t have time to get emotional – it was absolutely chocca.

“We said we were closing at 5pm, but we had to stay open until 5.45pm because there were still customers there.

“There were queues like you’ve never seen before.

“There was still a little bit of stock left, but it just looked like a jumble sale, like a right mess.”