Another big name is to quit Bolton town centre - just weeks after Marks and Spencer said it was closing its store on Deansgate.

Clintons on Market Street is to shut next month, The Bolton News has learned.

The news comes as a further blow to the retail sector in the town.

It is understood the shop will shut in a matter of weeks.

Clintons press office has so far not responded to calls for a comment.

But staff at the card and gift shop confirmed the store was closing but declined to comment further.

The future of the staff who work there is unclear at this stage.

READ MORE: 15 jobs axed in shock closure of card shop

Marks and Spencer announced it would be closing its Deansgate branch last month.

The retail giants blamed shopping habits and further stores will share the same fate.

In 2021, Market Street Clintons’ former next-door neighbour Thorntons also vacated after the pandemic heavily impacted the business as it forced many of its stores to shut for key periods around Christmas and Easter.

The chocolatier pulled all of its 61 stores from the UK’s high street.

READ MORE: Thorntons to shut all 61 shops - after closing Bolton store at start of 2021

A spokesperson at the time also detailed “changing dynamics of the high street,” and “shifting customer behaviour to online” as further reasons for the closures. 

Clintons was family run and founded in 1968 by Don Lewin. The first store opened in Epping, Essex. By 1988 the business had grown to 77 stores. In 1994 the company had further grown to 270 stores.

In October 1994 Clinton Cards acquired 83 shops from Hallmark Cards and in September 1995 acquired 112 shops from Carlton Cards. A further 211 shops were bought in 1998.

There are currently circa 225 stores all over the UK.

Recent high-profile departures from the town’s high street have prompted concerns over the town’s economic prosperity.

Leader of Bolton Council, Cllr Martyn Cox, said the Marks and Spencer announcement last month came as a shock, while Nick Peel, Bolton Labour leader, called on the retailer to not allow the site to become dilapidated, which would be “horrendous”.

Yasmin Qureshi, MP for Bolton South East, told The Bolton News readers that the high street needs a new plan in her January column.

“Labour’s plan for our high streets is clear,” she said. “We will reform business taxes, with a view to abolishing business rates, to ensure a level playing field between online retailers, who pay little to no tax, and your average high street store.”

READ MORE: Bolton Reacts after Marks and Spencer

However, reacting to M&S’ closure, Bolton West MP Chris Green said that there was yet hope for Bolton’s high street.

He said: “Shopping patterns have been shifting over many years which is why Middlebrook in the heart of my constituency does so well but of course we all want to see our town centre do well.

“Martyn Cox and his team have huge plans for the regeneration of the town and we’re all hoping that once the regeneration of the retail sector takes place then we will see the return of major outlets to Bolton.”