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Clinton Cards to close 350 stores with all Birthdays stores to shut

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18096654

Quote:

Retailer Clinton Cards, which is in administration, is to close almost half its stores across the UK, leading to the loss of 2,800 jobs.

Adminstrators Zolfo Cooper said that it has "regrettably" decided to close about 350 stores of its total of 784.

The closures include all of its Birthdays-branded stores.

"In the course of this work it has become clear that the business is burdened with an untenable retail estate," it said.

Clinton Cards was placed in administration on 9 May.

Founded in 1968, it was the UK's biggest card retailer and before its collapse employed more than 8,000 staff.

In March, Clinton Cards reported a loss of £3.7m for the six months to the end of January and said the outlook for 2012 was worse than previously thought.

It had loans of £35m to banks, which were then sold on its supplier, American Greetings.

While the banks had waived certain conditions for the loans, American Greetings had pressed for repayments that Clinton Cards could not meet.

Clinton Cards has been restructuring its business to try to turn around its fortunes, including closing a number of Clintons and Birthdays-branded UK stores.

you lot have been slacking just because i not been on here :hmph:

sad news i no a sext girl that works at Birthdays :mad:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marc (Post 5142079)

Paperchase >

i Google that yea that a good point

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marc (Post 5142099)

Mooooooonpiggg .com

yea i now that one

I swear cards are really expensive these days, horrible things to buy as well, normally spend about half an hour trying to find a funny one when people only ever take a quick glance at them

Card shopping is fun, I often end up laughing out loud in the store because of some of the cards.

We're going to miss out on those experiences D:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marc (Post 5142119)

We're going to miss out on those experiences D:

i no :bawling::bawling::bawling:

any got any info on when the stores are going to close and what towns i check jamie east twitter but no info on there :suspect:

Clinton Cards to close Scottish stores

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan...iness-18181276

Quote:

A total of 14 Scottish Clinton Cards stores are to close at the end of this month with the loss of about 100 jobs.

Ten of the shops are Clinton shops and four are Birthdays-branded stores. A decision about the future of the remaining outlets will be made in the next few weeks.

The company went into administration earlier this month.

Founded in 1968, it was the UK's biggest card retailer and before its collapse employed about 8,000 staff.

Overall in the UK, 44 shops are to close.

The affected Clinton Card stores in Scotland are in Airdrie, Coatbridge, Edinburgh - The Fort, Galashiels, Glasgow - Byres Road, Glasgow - Sauchiehall Street, Greenock, Hamilton, Paisley and Stirling.

The four Birthdays shops to close are in Cumbernauld, Dalkeith Falkirk and Fort William.

In March, Clinton Cards reported a loss of £3.7m for the six months to the end of January and said the outlook for 2012 was worse than previously thought.

It had loans of £35m to banks, which were then sold on its supplier, American Greetings.

While the banks had waived certain conditions for the loans, American Greetings had pressed for repayments that Clinton Cards could not meet.

The administrators Zolfo Cooper said it expected further closures among the remaining outlets in the coming weeks although it said it could not rule out the possibility of some stores earmarked for closure being saved.

Peter Saville, Joint Administrator and Partner at Zolfo Cooper said: "We have received expressions of interest from a number of third parties and are confident that the remaining retail estate will be better placed going forward.

"It appears unlikely, however, that we will be able to find a buyer for the majority of the Birthdays stores and our analysis highlights that we cannot justify continuing to trade certain Birthdays and Clinton Cards stores into June.

"As a result, there is no alternative option but to close these 44 stores in May."

So many shops going into administration lately.

And yeah, cards are useless anyway - I guess if all these stores close, I won't have to think of an excuse for not buying people cards, so it's good.

Noticed a few already closed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTVN (Post 5142108)

I swear cards are really expensive these days, horrible things to buy as well, normally spend about half an hour trying to find a funny one when people only ever take a quick glance at them

Card designers need to make a decent living :pipe:

Clinton Cards bought out of administration by American Greetings' subsidiary

http://www.retail-week.com/sectors/g...d&contentID=-1

Quote:

The sale comprises the brands and assets of Clinton Cards, including 397 stores. The transaction has preserved 4,500 jobs across the UK.

Zolfo Cooper was appointed administrator when Clinton Cards collapsed last month after the retailer’s largest supplier American Greetings bought its £35m debt and immediately asked for repayment, which it could not afford.

Referring to the sale, American Greetings chief executive Zev Weiss said: “We are pleased to welcome these stores, the Clinton Cards brand, and the approximately 4,500 employees as members of the American Greetings family.

“As mentioned before, we believe that properly managed, and with the appropriate capital structure, Clinton Cards can be both an important and profitable retailer in the specialty channel of distribution over the long term.

“The separation of the acquired assets and business from the legal entity in administration is an important first step of this process. We have also lined-up a leadership team to run the new UK subsidiary that has extensive specialty retail channel experience.”

Zolfo Cooper joint administrator Peter Saville said: “We have always been of the view that despite an intensely competitive retail environment and what proved to be excessively ambitious expansion plans in recent years, there was a strong underlying business contained within Clinton Cards.

“The significant number of credible expressions of interest we received for the business we have sold today, from both trade and financial buyers alike, is testament to this fact.

“We would like to thank the staff for their dedication and patience throughout what has been an understandably difficult time for all concerned and we wish both them and the new owners of the business every success for the future.”

Zolfo Cooper will now focus on continuing the store closure programme, after announcing a 350-store closure programme last month out of a 750-strong store estate across both the Clintons and Birthdays fascias.

Clinton Cards supplier American Greetings had been the front-runner to buy the business and, as the largest creditor, had some influence over the administration process. WHSmith, Card Factory, investment firms OpCapita and Endless were also in the running to buy the retailer.

Any bid would have had to top £35m for American Greetings to step aside because that would ensure the US firm clawed its money back. But it is understood that Clinton Cards was widely valued by potential buyers at between £10m and £20m, so an offer of that scale was unlikely to materialise.

:dance::dance::dance:

Another 43 Clintons and Birthdays stores shut today

http://www.retail-week.com/property/...037446.article

Quote:

Clinton Cards’ administrator Zolfo Cooper has issued a list of 43 shops to be closed today because they are not included in the sale to supplier American Greetings’ subsidiary, Lakeshore lending.

The brands and assets of Clinton Cards including 397 stores, were sold to Lakeshore yesterday, leaving a rump of 330 in the hands of the administrators. Zolfo Cooper said it would “continue to welcome expressions of interest for this part of the estate”.

The 43 affected stores are:

Clinton Cards

Ayr, The Kyle Cent
Basildon, Town Sq
Blackpool, Upper Church St
Brighton, Western Rd
Bristol, The Galleries
Bromley, Upper Mall, The Glades
Cannock, Peel Ctr
Chatham, High St
Cheltenham, Regent Arcade
Chorley, Chapel St
Corby, Willow Place
Crawley, 61County Mall
Croydon, 31 Whitgift Ctr (Lower)
East Kilbride, The Olympia
Gainsborough
Glasgow, Braehead
Inverness, High St
Ipswich, Cornhill
Leeds, Commercial St
Milton Keynes, Silbury Arcade
Newbury, Kennett Ctr
Northampton, Grosvenor Ctr
Romford, Liberty II
Shrewsbury, Darwin Ctr
Shrewsbury, Pride Hill Ctr
Watford, Upper Mall Harlequin

Birthdays

Basingstoke, Mayfair House
Bracknell
Bromley, The Glades
Camberley, Cambridge Wlk
Craigavon, Craigavon Ctr
Derby, 145 South Mall
East Kilbride, West Mall
Liverpool, Lord St
Norwich, Castle Mall
Nuneaton, Market Place
Redditch, Kingfisher Ctr
Sheffield, 18 The Gallery
Southend, 82 High St
Thurrock, 277 Lakeside
Uxbridge, Pavillions Ctr
Weston Super Mare

:bawling::bawling::bawling:

Additional 17 stores set to close by 6 July 2012

Birthdays

Biggleswade
Blackpool, Victoria St
Bolton, Middlebrook
Gateshead
Gravesend
Hastings
Lurgan
Oxford (Pure Party)
St Helens
Washington
York

Clinton Cards

Dumfries, Loreburne Ctr
Hertford
Musselburgh, High St
Newry, The Quays
Strand, London
Victoria Stn, London

only 22 more need to close after theses ones

Card Factory is vastly superior offering greater variety of products at bargain prices. I'm just wondering how Clinton have survived this long in the face of such tough competition.

Clinton Cards plc to close remaining 76 shops with loss of 550 jobs

CLINTONS STORES TO CLOSE

Antrim
Arbroath, 154 High St
Armagh, 60 Scotch St
Ashington, Station Rd
Ballymena, Fairhill Ctre
Banbridge, 17 Newry St
Bangor (NI), 80 Main Street
Bangor, St Deiniol Centre
Barnard Castle
Beeston
Belfast, Castle Court
Bideford
Birmingham, High St
Bridgend, Adare St
Cardiff, Albany Rd
Clydebank
Crouch End
Derby, Corn Mkt
Diss
Dudley, Churchill Prct
Edinburgh, Princes St
Fareham
Greenock, U25 Hamilton Way
Halesowen
Hatfield, Town Ctr
Hemel Hempstead, Riverside
Holyhead
Holywell
Hounslow, Treaty Ctr
Ilford, Exchange
Kilburn
Knaresborough
Leicester, Market St
Letchworth
Lisburn, Bow St Mall
Llanelli
Magherafelt, Meadow Lane Ctr
Motherwell, Brandon Pde
Newmarket, Rookery
Newry, Buttercrane Ctr
Orpington, High St
Oswestry
Penzance
Peterborough, Bridge St
Pinner
Pontypridd, Taff St
Poole, High St
Port Talbot
Porthmadog, High St
Rickmansworth, High St
Stranraer, George St
Stroud
Teignmouth
Thetford
Tiverton, Fore St
Uttoxeter, High St
Walkden
Walsall, Park Mall
Wandsworth
Ware, High St
Whitstable, High St
Workington, Murray Rd

BIRTHDAYS STORES TO CLOSE

Armagh
Chester, Broughton
Clacton
Cramlington
Dungannon
Elgin
Glasgow PURE PARTY
Great Yarmouth PURE PARTY
Kings Heath, 121 High St
Limavady
North Shields, Beacon Cen
Omagh
Southport, Central
Wishaw

that it all done by 31/7/12