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Honest Talk About Clintons The Taylors confident of a turnaround in 2025 Having almost doubled their retail estate overnight to nearly 350 stores when the family-run Cardzone group acquired the Clintons chain back in March, Paul and James Taylor knew they had a lot of sorting out to do before revealing their grand plan. Speaking out publicly for the first time since the acquisition in March the father Above: Work is underway to futureproof Clintons. and son duo who head up the business have been honest in admitting the Clintons “business was in a worse state” than they had expected, but trading director James assured PG “it is 100% sortable”. James explained it was never going to be an overnight success to dovetail Clintons into the existing Cardzone retailing business, but he feels very confident that all the key changes that need to be made – including strategy, store realignment, product balance, branding and management team – will be in place by the start of the group’s 2025/2026 financial year, which runs from 1 July 2025. While not known for ever courting publicity, the father and son duo recognised the merit in explaining the Clintons’ situation to Retail Gazette “to give the clear message to landlords how we are excited by the potential Clintons brings to our group, that there are challenges that we are working through,” said James. The article came on the back of what James described as “a really good Father’s Day trade,” adding: “Like-for-like sales from our Clintons’ stores were up 2% and Cardzone stores’ sales were up 6%.” With half of its stores on the High Street, James readily admits the drop in general footfall is a concern: “While shopping for seasons and events such as Father’s Day brings people into the stores, everyday sales are something of a challenge. “We remain very confident of the greeting card sector and our sales are in line with footfall, and so a strong season can make up any shortfall in everyday.” While six Clintons stores are in the process of closing down, a situation Cardzone inherited, James stressed talks are still underway with landlords “to do everything we can to avoid any further closures or cause any alarm to our loyal team”. More store openings are also part of the plan “because that’s what the High Street needs,” believes James.
CBG’s boost for indies Carte Blanche Greetings has announced management changes within its UK independent sales division to enable it to further improve its service to indies. Industry stalwarts Peter Goodman, Mike Apicella and Bill Greeno are to be working with Carte Blanche helping to manage the company’s salesforce. And the team, which includes employed business development executives and sales agents, is about to be expanded with the appointment of experienced sales agents Janice Miller for the north east, Brendan Cahill in Wales and Neil Pearson in the south west. The changes coincide with CBG’s independent sales manager Richard Mortimer leaving the business. Carte Blanche ceo Alister Marchant commented: “We want to thank Richard for his time at CBG and wish him well for the future.” Alister added: “The independent channel has always been and will always be a vital channel to us, hence we have always been proud to have one of the largest employed independent sales forces in the industry, but we acknowledge the speed of change in the retail landscape and, as such, we need to be flexible in our approach to servicing our customers.” Above: Mike Apicella (left) and Peter Goodman are now working with Carte Blanche. Below left: Bill Greeno is now a consultant with the Me to You brand owner. Below right: CBG created a co-ordinated Me to You thank you teacher range.
Above left: James Taylor and his sister Alex, marketing manager of the family business. Left: Some Clintons units are considered too large to be viable.
Noel Tatt wraps up bags and tissue Noel Tatt has just launched its inaugural giftwrappings collection of gift bags and tissue wrap. The development has come as a result of requests from customers as well as the publisher’s sales team. “We wanted our collection to look and feel uniquely Noel Tatt. It was essential that the range would reflect many of our bestselling card ranges and at the same time, stay true to our core brand values of quality and value for money,” explained Michael Griffiths, sales manager.
The initial collection comprises 20 designs, featuring embossing and foil, across three bag sizes – eight large, eight medium, and four bottle – plus six coordinating colours of tissue. Sustainability has been another major consideration, with all elements being recyclable, including the paper handles, tags, eurohooks and tissue packaging. In addition to its own designs, the new collection also includes three Smudge bags, a brand that Noel Tatt licences from Simson Cards in Australia. Far left: Noel Tatt’s Emily Terris and Vicki Edwards with some of the new giftwrappings. Left: This bright floral Noel Tatt card has translated well on to bags.
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