Birthdays (retailer)
 | |
| Formerly | Ron Wood Greeting Cards Holdings |
|---|---|
| Type | Limited company |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1966 |
| Founder | Ron and Gail Wood |
| Defunct | 2012 |
| Fate | Brand discontinued |
| Headquarters | Loughton, Essex, England |
Area served | United Kingdom and Ireland[1] |
| Products | Greeting cards, stationery and fancy goods |
| Revenue | £144.7 million[1] (2003) |
| Owner | Clinton Cards |
Number of employees | 3,260[1] (2003) |
| Website | Birthdays website (archived) |
Birthdays was a British greeting card retailer. The business originated in 1966, when Ron and Gail Wood started a greeting-card wholesaler in Bury, Greater Manchester; it was incorporated in 1969 as Ron Wood Greeting Cards Holdings.[1] The Birthdays retail format was introduced in 1986, and the range broadened to include plush toys, ornaments and novelty items. The company was renamed Birthdays Greeting Cards in 1996, after Wood sold his holding to a management buy-in.[1] Clinton Cards acquired the chain, by then around 500 shops, in 2004. Birthdays was placed in administration in 2009, and the brand was discontinued in 2012 when Clinton Cards itself collapsed.[2][3]
Ownership
In 2003, the Scottish entrepreneur Tom Hunter and Chris Gorman, owner of the Gadget Shop chain, acquired control of Birthdays through Hunter's West Coast Capital.[1][2] In November 2004, Clinton Cards bought the chain, which then operated about 500 stores, for £46 million.[2]
On 21 May 2009, Clinton Cards placed Birthdays into administration, writing £44 million off the value of the business; the stores continued to trade and Clinton Cards later bought many of them back from the administrator.[4]
In May 2012, Clinton Cards itself entered administration, handled by Zolfo Cooper, and announced the closure of all its Birthdays stores, ending the brand.[3] The following month, American Greetings acquired 397 of the surviving Clinton Cards stores.[5]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Birthdays Ltd". Encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on 21 November 2025. Retrieved 13 June 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Clinton pays £46m for its Birthdays cards". The Guardian. 19 November 2004. Retrieved 13 June 2026.
- 1 2 "Clinton Cards to close 350 stores with 2,800 job losses". BBC News. 16 May 2012. Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2026.
- ↑ "Birthdays chain goes into administration". The Guardian. 21 May 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2026.
- ↑ "American Greetings acquires Clinton Cards". Home & Giftware Magazine. 7 June 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2026.