CLOSING TIME
High street card retailer with 163 branches to close another store and launches huge closing down sale
The card shop has gone from several towns this year
A HIGH street card retailer with 179 branches is set to close another store and has launched a huge closing down sale.
Andover, Hampshire is to lose its Clintons branch on the high street when it shuts its doors for the final time next year.
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The chain has around 179 branches across the country in cities like London, Nottingham and Sheffield.
It sells all kinds of party essentials such as gifts, cards and balloons.
However, shoppers in Andover will soon be left without the store after its closure was announced.
The shop is currently holding a closing down sale, with 20 per cent off everything in store, .
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It comes as staff were reportedly informed of the impending closure three weeks ago.
The card shop is expected to shut its doors for the final time April 2025.
The Sun has approached Clintons for comment.
Nationally, the chain has closed 84 per cent of its stores in recent years, with just , down from its peak of more than 1,000.
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Many other Clintons stores are set to close in the coming months, with one in Southend-on-Sea, Essex due to shut in January next year.
Shoppers have shared their sadness over its decision to close online, with one describing it as " another great loss" to the high street.
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A second punter wrote: "Another nail in the coffin for Southend high street."
Another said: "Very sad for the staff affected by this."
Prior to that, in July, it was announced that a Clintons store in the town centre of Banbury, Oxfordshire would pull down its shutters on Christmas Eve.
In August, a branch of the brand in Bexhill town centre, East Sussex, closed for good.
Like Andover's store, it too had a 20 per cent off closing down sale, according to local news reports.
Residents took to Facebook after hearing the news in May which some say was disappointing.
One Facebook user said: “Such a shame that Bexhill is losing another shop.”
“I wouldn’t buy from anywhere else,” said a shopper on Google.
“It's a wonderful shop,” said another.
This follows Clintons Cards' announcement last year that it was considering plans to shut 38 of its stores in a bid to avoid insolvency.
Half a dozen stores have already closed including in Cambridgeshire, Cumbria and Northamptonshire.
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The retailer pulled down the shutters to its branch in Castle Street, Hinckley, Leicestershire on February 17.
Its branch in Kettering's Newlands Shopping Centre closed on May 8.
Why are retailers closing stores?
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
The high street has seen a whole raft of closures over the past year, and more are coming.
The number of jobs lost in British retail dropped last year, but 120,000 people still lost their employment, figures have suggested.
Figures from the Centre for Retail Research revealed that 10,494 shops closed for the last time during 2023, and 119,405 jobs were lost in the sector.
It was fewer shops than had been lost for several years, and a reduction from 151,641 jobs lost in 2022.
The centre's director, Professor Joshua Bamfield, said the improvement is "less bad" than good.
Although there were some big-name losses from the high street, including Wilko, many large companies had already gone bust before 2022, the centre said, such as Topshop owner Arcadia, Jessops and Debenhams.
"The cost-of-living crisis, inflation and increases in interest rates have led many consumers to tighten their belts, reducing retail spend," Prof Bamfield said.
"Retailers themselves have suffered increasing energy and occupancy costs, staff shortages and falling demand that have made rebuilding profits after extensive store closures during the pandemic exceptionally difficult."
Alongside Wilko, which employed around 12,000 people when it collapsed, 2023's biggest failures included Paperchase, Cath Kidston, Planet Organic and Tile Giant.
The Centre for Retail Research said most stores were closed because companies were trying to reorganise and cut costs rather than the business failing.
However, experts have warned there will likely be more failures this year as consumers keep their belts tight and borrowing costs soar for businesses.
The Body Shop and Ted Baker are the biggest names to have already collapsed into administration this year.
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