The owner of greeting card retailers including Carlton Cards and Papyrus is closing all of its stores in North America, including 76 Canadian locations.
Most of the closures will take place over the next four to six weeks, Schurman Retail Group CEO Dominique Schurman told CTV News in a statement.
Another 178 locations will close in the U.S., bringing the total to 254 stores employing approximately 1,400 people.
The closures will not affect the publishing of Carlton Cards or their sale in other stores.
Those aspects of the business are handled by a separate company.
The Carlton Cards and Papyrus online stores also remain open, although the Papyrus website has been modified to state that all sales are final.
Going-out-of-business sales are underway at physical stores in both Canada and the U.S.
There are 59 Carlton Cards locations including 2 in the Niagara Region, one at the Pen Centre in St. Catharines and one at the Seaway Mall in Welland.