The greetings card chain Clintons is reportedly looking to close about a fifth of its stores, as it tries to avoid going bust again.
The retailer is understood to have appointed restructuring advisers from business advisory firm FRP to help it draw up plans to prevent insolvency.
Under the move it would swap its debt for equity and shut 38 of its 179 shops, because of the “acute financial distress” it is facing, according to the Times. It had reportedly been exploring a tie-up with stationery and cards retailer Paperchase, before the rival chain’s brand and intellectual property, but not its stores, were bought out of administration by Tesco.
Clintons has struggled in recent years amid tough competition from cheaper high street retailers as well as the big supermarkets and internet rivals such as Moonpig, which said it was well positioned to benefit from a “long-term structural market shift to online” when it reported rising sales in the year to the end of April.
The news of fresh problems at Clintons adds to concerns that a fresh spate of high street closures could be on the way, as retailers grapple with rising costs and sluggish consumer demand.
On Thursday the budget retailer Wilko, which has about 400 stores, said it was on the brink of collapse and filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators, putting more than 12,000 jobs at risk.
If Clintons does move to shut more stores, it would be just its latest round of closures. The company was bought out of administration in late 2019 with its existing US owners, which safeguarded 2,500 jobs and 332 stores, and closed a significant number of its sites as a result.
The chain had hoped to carry out an insolvency procedure known as a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), as it looked to slash rents and close up to 66 of its branches, but it failed to get support from its landlords.
Clintons entered administration in 2012, when it had about 784 stores. The company has permanently closed branches in locations including Dorchester, Bolton and Ayr in the past 18 months.
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The chain was founded as Clinton Cards in 1968 by Don Lewin in Epping, Essex, and expanded to reach more than 670 locations by 1998. Clintons and FRP Advisory have been contacted for comment.
