Clintons owner mulls new UK fascia after issues with Papyrus trademark

US premium card retailer Papyrus, operated by Schurman Retail Group, which also runs Clintons in the UK, was to launch in a former Clintons store in Bluewater by April, followed by another store in Westfield London.

US supplier and Schurman shareholder American Greetings is now mulling opening a separate fascia in the same locations. It could potentially be another of its brands, which includes Carlton Cards, because the Papyrus name is already trademarked in the UK.

Clintons was bought out of administration by American Greetings in June last year.

Clintons marketing director Tim Fairs said “a number” of locations have been earmarked for the brand and they are a mixture of old Clintons sites and new stores.

He added that Schurman Retail Group intends to increase the presence in London of Clintons and the new premium brand.

Clintons said it generated “positive” like-for-like sales over the Christmas period. It described footfall as “positive” and reported a 10% increase on basket spend per customer.

Clintons said performance was driven by improved back office IT, a centralised warehouse, tighter cost controls and improved terms with landlords.

In addition, 78 of the 390 Clintons stores have been transformed to its new red fascia and store design.

Clintons has also set aside £16m to revamp the stores, which include new ranges and merchandising.