Claire's shuts all 154 standalone stores in the UK and Ireland, with about 1,300 jobs affected
The Facts
- All 154 of Claire's standalone stores in the UK and Ireland have ceased trading.
- Administrators said around 1,300 store employees have been notified of redundancy as a result of the closures.
- The closures do not include Claire's concession outlets, which remain open, and reports say European stores are also continuing to operate for now.
- Kroll is acting as administrator for Claire's UK and Ireland business.
- The shutdown comes after Claire's UK and Ireland business entered administration again within about a year.
- The closures remove Claire's standalone presence from high streets in the UK and Ireland, but the future of some sites is still unresolved because an interested party is in talks with landlords about taking new leases on some locations.
Context
Are all Claire's operations in the UK and Ireland shutting down?
No. The standalone stores have closed, but concession outlets are continuing to trade, and multiple reports say the head office is unaffected; some reports also say European stores remain open for now BBC,Independent,TheJournal.ie.
Who is handling the insolvency process?
Kroll is the administrator for Claire's UK and Ireland business and announced that the standalone stores had ceased trading and that store staff had been advised of redundancy BBC,Independent,Bloomberg Business.
What happens next to the closed store sites?
That is not yet settled. Kroll said an interested party is in discussions with a number of landlords about taking new leases for some of the sites, but no deal or scale for any takeover has been confirmed in the cited reports Independent,EXPRESS,Bloomberg Business.
How left and right read it
The immediate story is the human cost: around 1,300 store employees have been notified of redundancy, and Claire’s standalone presence has disappeared from high streets across the UK and Ireland. Even if concession outlets remain open and some sites could yet be taken on under new leases, that does little to soften the disruption facing workers and communities now.
What stands out is a business entering administration again within about a year and then shutting all 154 standalone stores, a sign of a model that could not sustain itself in that form. The fact that concession outlets remain open and some sites may yet be leased by an interested party suggests there is still value in preserving viable operations through orderly restructuring rather than pretending every location can be kept going.
The receipts — all 79 sources
Wire services (4)
Independent coverage (50)
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