City’s Clinton Cards stores set to close

Edinburgh and Dalkeith branches of one of Scotland’s best-known specialist card retailers are to shut as part of a national wave of closures. The announcement comes after Clinton Cards fell into administration earlier this month. A Clinton Cards outlet at the Fort will close, along with a Birthdays store in Dalkeith town centre. Across Scotland, 14 stores will close, resulting in 100 redundancies. They are among 366 UK redundancies which come after the collapse of Clinton Cards, which has been hurt by competition from supermarkets and online retailers. The first 44 stores will shut before the end of May, said administrator Zolfo Cooper, with further closures expected in the coming weeks. There have been reports that WHSmith is interested in buying the shops, and it is also thought Card Factory has approached administrators.