THE chairman of Clinton Cards has insisted that most jobs at the firm’s Debden headquarters are safe after the company was taken into administration.
Don Lewin, who founded the company with a single shop in Epping High Street, said it was still worth saving and he expected the company to be bought with about 500 shops – 300 fewer than the current number.
“It’s a brand name that everybody knows,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with the business, although as a retailer, we’ve been finding it a bit difficult.
“The employees here are all devastated – I’ve got a lot of people who have worked for me for 20 to 30 years and a lot of people have done in excess of 10, so they’re all a bit upset.
“But I don’t think there will be many jobs here that will go.”
He said that of the 8,000 people working for the company, those most at risk were shop workers in the north of England, although WHSmith and Card Factory have been tipped to take over stores.
Administrators Zolfo Cooper were brought in earlier this week after the company’s main suppliers, American Greetings, took on its £35million debt.
Mr Lewin said overheads like rising shop rents had meant there was not much spare cash for advertising or updating the look of stores, making it hard to compete on some planes with rivals such as online retailer Moonpig.
“We’ve got our own website, but Moonpig spends £7million a year on advertising,” he added. “They’ve got nothing else, just that.
“People have been saying I’ve not updated the shops like I should, but it costs money and we’ve just not had it lately.”
He added that he had not wanted to make the company into a discount brand like Card Factory.
He said his business would remain viable, partly because women liked to browse, rather than buy cards online.
“The only people who really buy off the internet are men – they buy three cards a year, for their anniversary, their wife’s birthday and their wife at Christmas.
“Most women still want to go into a card shop.”
The administrators are expected to remain at the company for the next four to six weeks.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here