Greetings card chain Clintons could be the next casualty on the high street, it has been reported.
The retailer is said to be considering closing shops and rent cuts as part of a survival plan.
Clintons has about 2,500 staff and is a familiar storefront in many town centres. It was reported yesterday that it wanted to close 66 out of 332 shops, with landlords slashing rents on most of the other stores.
The restructuring would involve a controversial scheme known as a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), an insolvency process that allows companies to continue trading while pushing through closures and rent cuts.
A Clintons spokeswoman said "discussions are continuing with our landlords but no decisions have been made".
But she declined to comment on a Sunday Telegraph report that the company told landlords 90 of its shops were loss-making and that sales were expected to continue to decline.
One landlord told the BBC that although there was a meeting with Clintons last week, very few details of the restructuring plan were given. More talks are expected this week.
The retailer, formed in 1968, is owned by the Weiss family, which previously controlled the American Greetings retail chain in the US.
Clintons, previously known as Clinton Cards, had appointed advisers from consultancy KPMG to explore a potential sale, no offers were received.
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