Card Factory growth with deal for rival’s stores
YORKSHIRE-based The Card Factory has strengthened its position as the number two greetings card retailer in the UK with a deal to buy 76 of collapsed rival The Celebrations Group’s stores.
The moved by the Wakefield group will save 500 jobs and see it take on up to 400 new staff and its chain of shops grow to 480 with 4,000 staff selling cards, gifts and gift wrap.
Card Factory was founded in 1997 with just one store by Dean Hoyle, the owner and chairman-elect of Huddersfield Town FC.
Managing director Richard Hayes said the company put together a rescue package for some of the stores owned by fellow card retailer Celebrations Group, which had 280 stores and 1,700 staff and owns the Card Warehouse and Card Fair brands and which went into administration in October.
Mr Hayes said he was “reluctant to talk figures” on the deal but said it had been funded through a combination of the group’s existing resources and bank finance.
“It is an important deal for us, it gives some certainty to our ongoing growth plan and to a large extent secures our growth through 2009.
“We have already opened 50 stores this year.”
Mr Hayes said Card Factory had a target of becoming as big as market leader Clinton, which owns the Birthdays brand, and has 1.050 stores.
“That is the potential. Will we reach that level, who knows?”
Of the current retail market, Mr Hayes said: “It is nice to have a bit of good news for a change. The situation is it is tough for every retailer at the moment. The end of the market we operate at is the low end and that is more recession-proof. But any business will be hit by the lack of footfall on the high street.
“In uncertain economic times the general public demands ever increasing quality but also wants to see better value for money. Card Factory has always worked on both principles and that has lead to the company becoming the fastest growing card retailer in the UK today.”
Earlier this year Card Factory donated £1m to its corporate charity Macmillan Cancer Support and enlisted ITV’s Coleen Nolan as the face of the partnership. It is committed to raising more money over the next two years.
