High street card retailer with 179 branches to close ‘wonderful’ site as locals sob ‘we’re losing another shop’
A HIGH street card shop with 179 branches is due to close another branch within months.
Clintons will close a branch in Bexhill town centre for good in August.
The shop located on Devonshire Road, will pull its shutters down for the final time on August 4.
The store now displays a 20% off closing down sale sign according to local news.
Locals took to Facebook after hearing the news which some say was disappointing.
One Facebook user said: “Such as same 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 shopper.
Staff confirmed to The Sun the store was closing over the phone.
The chain currently has 179 shops nationwide and employs 1,400 people.
Clintons last pulled down the shutters on its branch Kettering’s Newlands Shopping Centre earlier this month.
It also closed a branch in Castle Street, Hinckley, Leicestershire on February 17.
Clintons is among retailers to have been affected by depressed high street footfall and competition from online rivals.
In August 2023, restructuring experts FRP Advisory and law firm Jones Day presented plans to save the business in an insolvency court.
The deal will help save thousands of jobs and over one hundred shops across the UK, but it still means dozens of branches will have to close their doors for good.
They came up with a deal to save thousands of jobs and over one hundred UK stores.
Originally, Clintons planned to merge with another struggling stationary brand Paperchase.
However, the firm sadly went into administration at the start of last year.
At its peak, Clinton’s had 2,500 staff working across 335 shops.
What is happening to the high street?
The high street has been hit hard in recent years as shoppers increasingly turn to online retail.
High energy costs and business rates have further piled pressure on businesses.
This has left some remaining retailers grappling with budgets and having no choice but to close stores.
Several major brands have fallen into administration since the start of 2023, including Wilko and Paperchase.
This year, The Body Shop fell into administration and it has seen dozens of branches close, 82 will have shut in total by the end of the month.
Administrators for Ted Baker have confirmed 15 sites across England will close permanently in a blow to the high street.
Boots announced it would be closing 300 stores over the next year as part of plans to evolve its brand.
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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