Claire’s, a mall boutique chain favored by tweens, teens and young women, is set to close more than 290 stores as part of its bankruptcy process.
Claire’s Holdings LLC, which announced on Aug. 20 it had sold its North American business to private equity firm Ames Watson for $104 million, listed more than 290 stores it planned to close in a court filing on Monday, Aug. 25.
Stores to be closed include 235 Claire’s locations in the U.S. and 56 Icing stores. The filing also listed 830 stores – 785 Claire’s locations and 45 Icing locations – not expected to close immediately.
The move comes after the company, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, noted in a subsequent court filing days later it would likely need to close more than 1,100 stores if it didn’t find a buyer.
Store closing sales could continue at the locations set to close, while closing sales at some other locations were discontinued, according to the filing. Dates of expected store closings were not disclosed, but they are expected to happen on a rolling basis, the company confirmed to USA TODAY.
At the time of the sale, Ames Watson, which has offices in New York City and Columbia, Maryland, said it planned to preserve the retail chain in a downsized form.
“Claire’s has built a powerful emotional connection with generations of consumers through its focus on self-expression, creativity, and accessible fashion,” said Ames Watson co-founder Lawrence Berger in a statement. “We are committed to investing in its future by preserving a significant retail footprint across North America, working closely with the Claire’s team to ensure a seamless transition and creating a renewed path to growth based on our deep experience working with consumer brands.”
Among the 291 stores closing, these states have the most: California (25), New York (18) and Illinois and Pennsylvania (16 each).
The company, which is based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, near Chicago, has continued to struggle since filing for bankruptcy in March 2018.
Backed by hedge funds Elliott Management and Monarch Alternative Capital, Claire’s continued to operate with more than 2,300 retail locations across 17 countries in North America and Europe, including traditional Claire’s stores, 210 Claire’s locations embedded in Walmart stores, and 120 stores that operate under the Icing brand owned by Claire’s. The company also operates 9,000 concessions kiosks within malls.
Challenges have included the rise of ultra-popular online fast fashion sites Shein and Temu, which cut into the jewelry store chain’s sales, rising interest rates, inflation and tariffs on goods from China.
Contributing: Fernando Cervantes, USA TODAY, and Reuters
Mike Snider is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider & msnider@usatoday.com
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