Fashion jewelry retailer Claire’s filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States on Wednesday, its second bankruptcy filing after 2018, with a plan to close hundreds of stores and find a buyer for about 800 remaining locations.
The U.S.-based company has $690 million in debt, and it has suffered in recent years from increased competition, high rent costs, and new tariffs on imports from supplier nations like China, Thailand and Vietnam, according to documents filed with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Delaware.
The retailer, backed by Elliott Management and Monarch Alternative Capital, operates more than 2,300 retail locations across 17 countries in North America and Europe, including 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.
The company has engaged with several interested bidders, but has not yet lined up a buyer that will keep Claire’s retail locations in business. The company would have to close all of its locations if it cannot get a sale completed quickly, it said in court documents.
Founded in 1961 in Chicago, Claire’s sells necklaces, bracelets and accessories, including headphones and soft toys. American girls have often gotten their first ear piercings at Claire’s, in a “rite of passage” that has lasted for decades, and the company says it has pierced over 100 million ears since 1978.
The jewelry retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2018, and the company was strong for a couple of years, despite a dip in sales during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to its court filings. But its recent performance has suffered due to rising competition from online fashion and jewelry sellers like SHEIN and from specialty retailers that offer ear-piercing services, like Lovisa, Rowan, and Studs, according to Claire’s court documents.
Long-term declines in in-person shopping at malls have hurt Claire’s particularly hard, the company said, since most of its core customers are girls and teenagers who depend on their parents to make purchases for them, according to court filings.
The company has also struggled to maintain its supply chain and profitability in the face of President Donald Trump’s tariff policy, which has disrupted imports from China and other Asian nations. Claire’s imports over 56% of its jewelry from China, and Trump’s tariffs have increased Claire’s supply costs by over $30 million since April 2025, according to the company.
Claire’s filed to go public for the second time in late 2021 after its failed attempt to list in 2013.
Claire’s formally withdrew its IPO plans for the second time in June 2023, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
