High street card retailer to close another shop in fresh wave of store closures

Clintons Cards has been a pillar of the  British high street since its establishment in 1968. By 1988, its portfolio had grown to 77 stores.

The iconic greeting cards retailer is easy to find across the UK, with more than 160 branches nationwide.

But the brand will soon bid farewell to a store in Hampshire, England, experiencing a shock closure.

The chain sells party essentials such as gifts, cards, and balloons and has branches in cities like London, Nottingham, and Sheffield. However, following the announcement of its closure, Andover shoppers will soon be without this store.

Currently, the shop is holding a closing-down sale, offering 20 percent off everything in the store, as reported by the Andover Advertiser.

It’s a shock to customers who have branded the closure as “another great loss” to the high street. However, staff were reportedly informed about the impending closure three weeks ago.

The card shop is expected to shut its doors for the final time in April 2025.

It comes just months after it was announced that the Clintons store in Banbury, Oxfordshire’s town centre, would close its doors on Christmas Eve. In August, a brand branch in Bexhill town centre, East Sussex, also permanently shut down.

Nationally, the chain has closed 84 percent of its stores in recent years, leaving just 163 Clintons branches left nationwide, down from over 1,000 at its peak.

More Clintons stores are due to close in the coming months, including one in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, which will close in January next year.

The year has been turbulent for the card retailer, whose future on the high street was secured once more in March when it was snapped up by family-owned greetings card specialist Cardzone.

At its peak, Clinton’s was the clear greetings card market leader, with more than 1,000 stores and a presence in almost every major British town.

However, the Retail Gazette reported that an influx of internet rivals, alongside the growing popularity of Card Factory’s value offer, resulted in the retailer losing its grip on the industry.

Speaking to the Gazette, Cardzone trading director James Taylor suggested that once Clintons is profitable again, they will begin to look at “the exciting stuff”, such as launching “the future look of Clintons”.

He said: “We want to have a concept that definitely holds on to the traditional key factors of Clintons but also introduces some newness and giftware and different ways of displaying products.”

The changes could come as soon as 2025, marking a second brand refresh for the card retailer.

Clintons’ previous owner ditched the chain’s well-known orange branding in favour of its current red logo back in 2012 after rescuing it from administration, though it’s thought that the red and white branding will remain.