Ray of hope for iconic indie shop.

Retail enjoys a week of mixed fortunes as hope remains that a buyer can be found for Soho's Sister Ray store

The owners of one of the UK's most iconic independent record stores are confident of saving the business after it fell into administration in a week of sharply-mixed fortunes for music retail.

Sister Ray, the last-surviving non-specialist indie music outlet in London's Soho, continues to trade at present, but will need to find a buyer to avoid joining other indie retail casualties in recent years such as Music Zone, MVC, Fopp (since re-opened under new ownership), Reckless Records and Disque.

Co-owner Phil Barton blames the move into administration on a combination of central London rent, high overheads, the collapse of the younger market and a "general malaise" in the music industry, with album sales down 7% year-on-year.

However, he remains confident for the future, with administrator Tenon Recovery hopeful that a sale as a going concern may be achieved within the next four weeks for the store, which won the Music Week independent store of the year in 2007.

The administrators are being assisted in the sale by specialist agent and valuer Edward Symmons LLP, which confirmed to Music Week that there had been a "steady stream" of interest in the store.

"It is very early days, but there is lots of interest," says Barton, who owns the store with Neil Brown. "We are still trading and we are very confident that something good will come out of this, that someone will come in who keeps the business on."