TWO card shops in South Gloucestershire face an uncertain future after retailer Clinton went into administration with many of its stores set to shut down.

Clinton Cards in Thornbury's St Mary Shopping Centre and Birthdays at Yate Shopping Centre have been well established for years but are now facing closure, placing a question mark over the fate of staff and dealing a fresh blow to the economy in both towns in the middle of a double-dip recession.

The troubled retailer was placed into administration after its largest supplier American Greetings took steps to begin the process on Wednesday, May 9.

The US firm bought Clinton’s £35 million loan facilities from Barclays and RBS later pressed for repayments the card giant could not meet.

Founded in 1968, it is the UK's biggest card retailer, operating 628 Clinton shops and 139 Birthdays stores and employing more than 8,000 staff.

The company said in a statement: "It is likely that a number of stores will need to be closed in order to make the business financially viable.

"However, Clinton Cards and Birthdays are very well-known brands on the high street and we believe that there is a strong underlying core business.

"We are therefore confident that it is an attractive proposition for a range of potential buyers and welcome expressions of interest from third parties."

In March, Clinton reported a loss of £3.7 million for the six months to the end of January and said the outlook for 2012 was worse than previously thought.

Asset manager for the Peer Group, the company which owns St Mary Shopping Centre in Thornbury, Richard Blake, said the firm was already in talks with high street names and was being proactive in its attempt to protect jobs in Thornbury.

"Anybody will be sorry for the 8,000 people who are about to lose their jobs," he told the Gazette.

"We have not been contacted by the people at Clinton cards and the local shop manager has not been contacted either.

"When and if they contact us we will make every effort with the administrator to keep the shop open.

"If not we will try as quickly as possible to get somebody else in."

Thornbury Chamber of Commerce declined to make a comment.

Yate Shopping Centre manager Andy Lowrey said he hoped the town’s Birthdays store would be among those to remain open.

"Retail spending in town centre and High Streets is continuing to fall due to the recession and the popularity of online shopping," he said.

"Clinton Cards are an example of this due to the success of Moon Pig, Funky Pigeon and other websites providing personalised greeting cards.

"Bon Marche, Millets and Game ran in to financial difficulty which has seen hundreds of stores close nationwide, however, these retailers remain open at Yate and we hope that Birthdays will not be selected for closure by their administrators."