Tina Richards is shutting up shop for the last time.

Emotions came flooding to the forefront for the owners of one of Shropshire’s best-loved institutions as the curtain came down on its 70-year-history.

Tina Richards reminisced about her 28 years in charge of Hares Ltd as she locked the door on the Shrewsbury-shop for the final time yesterday afternoon.

She and her husband Adrian are retiring and have decided to close the Milk Street business.

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Mr and Mrs Richards announced in January that they would be closing and its rich history came to an end at 4pm yesterday when they locked the door for the last time after serving their final customer.

Mrs Richards said it had been an emotional day at the shop with past customers visiting to say goodbye.

She said: “We had lots of people popping into see us yesterday to say goodbye and thanking us for everything over the years.

“Somebody bought me some flowers. The last customer was at about 3.30pm and she was one of the first customers I had when I started 28 years ago so that was quite nice.

“The shop is completely bare and everything has now gone. It’s sad, I feel quite emotional about it.”

Parents have used Hares for seven decades to buy school uniforms for their youngsters.

It has supplied uniforms to county pupils attending 15 schools including the Priory, Prestfelde and St George’s in Shrewsbury and Moreton Hall School, near Oswestry.

And it has also proved popular for youngsters attending scouts, cubs, girl guides and brownies as it has provided uniforms for these as well.

But it is not just uniforms that it has provided as it has also sold formal fashions for boys and girls.

The firm was established in 1937 by the Hare family and was initially based in Market Street. Mr and Mrs Richards bought it from Raymond Hare, the son of the original owner of the business, in 1981.

Since then it has moved in the town several times – first to High Street after a fire broke out in a next-door shop in Market Street in the mid-1980s, leaving Hares with a lot of water damage.

It later moved to Milk Street where it had remained until yesterday.