Jeff Rey carried three DVDs in a blue basket with its signature pink HMV sticker, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Live Free and Die Hard and Legally Blonde, as he browsed through the store.

“I just got here,” he said. “I came here often. I would walk here at least once a week . . . . I will miss it.”

On Good Friday, April 14, at 6 p.m. when the doors to the HMV store at 333 Yonge St. close, they will remain closed.

After 26 years, the music giant is signing off.

“It’s the end of an era,” said Derek Antonio, general manager of the store. “This is an iconic location that hosted the biggest names in the music industry. Legends have played this store, on our roof, our alley, our stages, in our windows. So many great, great people come through our doors that, after 26 years, it’s a bit heartbreaking to see it come to an end.”

Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ramones, Guns N’ Roses, Backstreet Boys, N Sync and Mariah Carey — all played at the store.

On Friday, a lone home stereo system played through twin speakers: “What is love? Baby, don’t hurt me! Don’t hurt me no more!”

As the day drew on, people streamed into the store to buy DVDs, vinyl figures of Jamie Lannister from Game of Thrones, black T-shirts with the trademark pink HMV logo or anything else they could find. Black painted shelves bore yellow notes with prices: “$100 for fixtures, furniture and equipment,” “What you see here today may not be here tomorrow,” and “90 per cent off.”

Left on the shelves were copies of Borat, Species, Welcome to Mooseport, Thr3e, Thank you for Smoking, Night at the Museum, License to Kill, Won’t Back Down, Robocop, Planet of the Apes and The Omen.

While HMV tunes out Canada, it is still dialed into the U.K.

“The oddest question I get is, ‘Where am I going to buy my CDs?’ ” Antonio said.

The CDs made up 40 per cent of HMV’s business.

Raj Sohi said he hadn’t been to the store in a while, but came here quite a lot in years past. He said he remembers spending his money on CDs, records and movies.

“There used to be a listening station, and I’d listen to what I wanted to get,” he said looking around. “It’s the end of an era.

“But this is what’s happening to stores like these.”

Most customers said it was only a matter of time before music giants shut their doors . . . although some did point out that vinyl records were making a comeback.

Patrick Savage said he would miss the store, as that’s where he came to look for new releases. On Friday, he was holding a basketful of CDs, a metre-long white HMV sign with its pink logo, and a movie poster of The Departed.

“I don’t know if I’ll see one of these things again,” he said.

It’s sad, said Mike McKee, who worked at the store, and was rearranging DVDs.

“It’s weird to see a part of my childhood go down.”