All 15 of A Write Card stores have now closed, but there are plans to open up in new locations subject to negotiations with landlords.
The specialist card shop group, owned by Card Party Ltd, a sibling company to Greetings House, the Walsall-based greeting card, party and floristry wholesaler has been loss-making for the last two years. The shops, which concentrated on selling mainly wholesale card publishing brands were located between Derby and Gloucester, including Tamworth, Burton-on-Trent, Cheltenham and Halesowen.
“The rent bill was colossal,” Richard Turnbull, managing director of Greetings House and director of A Write Card retail side told PG Buzz as to what led to the closures. “For the last 12 months we have been trying to renegotiate with landlords, but when they were unwilling to do so, we took the decision to close them down,” he explained.
However, as the vast majority of the stock into the Write Card shops was supplied from Greetings House, it was the sibling wholesale company that “took the hit” on most of the monies owed, assured Richard. He also stressed that “all rents on the retail properties were paid up to date.”
Richard told PG Buzz that the plans are now to look at opening new stores, again under the A Write Card trading name, providing landlords are willing to agree on realistic rental amounts.
Top: All of the A Write Card shops have now closed, but there are plans to look to open new stores.
