Clinton Cards stores in Barnet, Edgware and Southgate look set to close after the branches were not included in a rescue buyout announced today.

Administrator Zolfo Cooper has agreed the sale of 397 Clinton Cards stores to a subsidiary of the American Greetings Corporation in a move set to save 4,500 jobs.

The Brent Cross branch of the failed card retailer was included in the package and looks set to be saved.

The news means employees at the remaining four stores in the borough face redundancy unless a buyer is quickly found – a possibility the administrators have not ruled out.

Zolfo Cooper announced last month it would be closing 350 of the company’s 750 stores across the UK as it wrestled to gain control of the collapsed business’s finances.

Two stores in Barnet, as well as branches in Brent Cross, Edgware and Southgate, were spared the first round of cuts, but today’s news appears to be a nail in the coffin for the four shops.

In a statement regarding the sale, joint administrator Peter Saville, said: “We have always been of the view that despite an intensely competitive retail environment and what proved to be excessively ambitious expansion plans in recent years, there was a strong underlying business contained within Clinton Cards.

“The significant number of credible expressions of interest we received for the business we have sold today, from both trade and financial buyers alike, is testament to this fact.

"We would like to thank the staff for their dedication and patience throughout what has been an understandably difficult time for all concerned and we wish both them and the new owners of the business every success for the future.”