A month and a half after the pre-pack deal which saw Esquire acquire Clintons from administrative receivers, suppliers have and are being paid (including monies owed by the former regime) and rent renegotiations are well underway with all 150 landlords with whom Clintons leases stores. Esquire is a new company owned by the Weiss family, former owners of Clintons.
Eddie Shepherd, ceo of Clintons has told PG Buzz that “the intention was always to be fair to suppliers. They have all been paid to terms.”
He added that the company hopes to keep trading from the majority of the stores, “apart from if we cannot reach agreement on rents with the landlords.”
Eddie expects that all renegotiations with landlords to be finalised “within the next 8-12 weeks.
The specialist multiple, once the UK’s largest greeting card retailer was trading from 334 stores when the pre-pack deal was struck in early December.
Back then, Eddie said: “Like so many of our fellow High Street retailers, we have worked tirelessly to contend with the maelstrom of issues, from business rates pressure to fragile consumer confidence and lack of clarity on taxation of online retail businesses.”
Top: If the rent negotiations go well, Clintons will continue to trade from the majority of its existing stores.
