The closure of half of Clinton Cards’ stores will come as a fresh blow to Thorntons, which sells its chocolates at the greetings card specialist.

Thorntons products are stocked at 30 of Clinton Cards’ Birthdays stores - all of which are earmarked for closure. The struggling confectioner also sells chocolates at 16 Clinton Cards stores. Clinton Cards’ administrator, Zolfo Cooper, has yet to determine how many will be closed.

Thorntons has already been hit by the troubles at the greeting card retailer. In its half-year results, it said the closure of six “significant franchises” held by Birthdays Ireland had contributed to a 13.4% fall in franchise sales to £6.7m.

Thorntons has concessions at Clinton Cards and other shops in towns where it has no store. “They obviously didn’t imagine at the time that Clinton Cards would go into administration,” said Merchant Securities analyst Amisha Chohan. “In hindsight it wasn’t a brilliant idea.”

Thorntons has also begun targeting other card shops in towns where it is closing stores. To attract franchisees, it cut the franchise fee from £5,000 to £1,000.

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