Clintons, previously branded as Clinton Cards, is a chain of stores in the UK founded in 1968 by Don Lewin and best known for selling

greeting cards A greeting card is a piece of card stock, usually with an illustration or photo, made of high quality paper featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment. Although greeting cards are usually given on special occasions such as birthda ...

. It also sells soft toys and related gift products. It was listed on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

and was a constituent of the FTSE Fledgling Index. In May 2012 the company entered administration and following the closure of 350 branches, the company was bought by

American Greetings American Greetings Corporation is a privately held American company and is the world's second largest greeting card producer behind Hallmark Cards. Based in Westlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland, the company sells paper greeting ...

. The company fell into administration in 2012 and 2019 and was purchased both times by companies owned by the Weiss family. Clintons was managed by Eddie Shepard, from American Greetings' subsidiary, Schurman Retail Group. Starting in July 2012, the company began the gradual introduction of a new store design and logo, which removed the previous 'Clinton Cards' branding, replacing it with the new 'Clintons' name. In March 2024, Clintons was acquired by Pillarbox Designs, parent company of the similarly-sized greetings card retailer Cardzone and gift stores as Mooch. Talks around merging the two businesses had been taking place since prior to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic. The Clintons brand was retained and some stores transitioned between the brands. Pillarbox's Paul Taylor replaced Eddie Shepard as Clintons CEO.

History

Clinton Cards was founded in 1968 when Don Lewin OBE opened his first shop in Epping,

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. The business grew to 77 shops by 1988 and was then successfully floated on the

. In 2004, the company purchased the

Birthdays A birthday is the anniversary of the birth of a person or figuratively of an institution. Birthdays of people are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with birthday gifts, birthday cards, a birthday party, or a rite of passage. Many religion ...

chain of card and party shops for £ 46.4 million but placed the subsidiary into administration in 2009, subsequently buying back 140 of the 332 stores. In May 2012, the company's main supplier

bought £36 million of Clintons debt from its main lending banks, and immediately called in the debt for payment. Clinton Cards was unable to make the payment and entered administration on 9 May, with Peter Saville, Simon Freakley and Anne O'Keefe of Zolfo Cooper LLP, appointed as Joint Administrators of the Company. A week later 350 branches were closed, including all the Birthdays branches, and the remaining 397 stores were purchased the following month by US-based American Greetings' subsidiary Lakeshore Lending Limited. That October, 12 stores were disposed of and sold to its main rival

Card Factory Card Factory plc is a retailer of greeting cards and gifts in the United Kingdom founded in Wakefield by Dean Hoyle and his wife Janet. The first store opened in 1997, and by 2020 the company had over 1,000 stores. The company also operate ...

. In August 2023, Clintons was once again facing financial difficulties; the company appointed advisors to help it avoid insolvency and looked to close 38 of its 179 shops.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.clintonsretail.com/ American Greetings Retail companies of the United Kingdom Retail companies established in 1968 1968 establishments in the United Kingdom Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom

History

See also

References

External links