{"id":23480,"date":"2026-04-27T18:36:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T18:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/23480\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T18:36:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T18:36:30","slug":"claires-immediately-shuts-all-uk-stores-as-fashion-chain-goes-bust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/23480\/","title":{"rendered":"Claire\u2019s immediately shuts all UK stores as fashion chain goes bust"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The fashion accessories chain Claire’s has shut down all 154 of its high street outlets <\/a>across the UK<\/a> and Ireland<\/a>, resulting in the redundancy<\/a> of around 1,300 employees.<\/p>\n

This significant move does not, however, impact the retailer\u2019s 356 concessions, many of which are located within Asda stores, nor its head office operations.<\/p>\n

The closures follow private equity owner Modella Capital appointing Kroll to oversee the administration process earlier this year.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for Kroll said: \u201cAs of April 27, all Claire\u2019s standalone stores i<\/a>n UK and Ireland have ceased trading.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll store employees have been advised of redundancy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand an interested party is in discussion with a number of landlords with a view to taking new leases for some of the sites.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Some Some 1,300 workers will be made redundant (PA Archive) <\/p>\n

The retailer \u2013 which is known for its jewellery, clothing accessories and ear-piercing services \u2013 was founded in the US and first launched in the UK in 1996.<\/p>\n

It quickly expanded across UK high streets, but has come under pressure from low-priced online competitors in recent years.<\/p>\n

Claire\u2019s could not \u201cevolve fast enough\u201d to compete with \u201cnimble online platforms\u201d such as Temu and TikTok<\/a> Shop, according to Nicholas Found, head of commercial content at Retail Economics.<\/p>\n

Temu\u2019s ultra-low pricing and TikTok Shop\u2019s ability to turn its social media users into customers has diminished the relevance of traditional high street players, \u201cespecially in fashion accessories where impulse buys are easy to substitute\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

Similarly, Sean Moran, a restructuring and insolvency partner at Shakespeare Martineau, said the fashion and accessories industry has been overwhelmed by new competition from online retailers in recent years, putting increased pressure on high street brands.<\/p>\n

\"Modella Modella said tough retail conditions, including those from government policies, were causing British businesses to \u2018suffer\u2019 (PA) <\/p>\n

\u201cThese tough market conditions will by no means only be affecting Claire\u2019s, and we may well see other retail giants struggle in the coming months\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

In January, Modella said it had made the \u201ctough decision\u201d to kickstart insolvency proceedings for the businesses after \u201clast-ditch\u201d measures had fallen through.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have worked intensively in an effort to save both businesses, having made last-ditch attempts to rescue them, but neither has a realistic possibility of trading profitably again,\u201d a spokesperson for the company said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn these circumstances, administration is the only option.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn both cases, the legacy effects of trading prior to our ownership left them highly vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Modella said tough retail conditions, including those from government policies, were causing British businesses to \u201csuffer\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Modella, Modella, which also owns former WH Smith high street business TG Jones and Hobbycraft, placed Claire\u2019s into insolvency after it was hit by \u201calarming\u201d weak Christmas trading (AP) <\/p>\n

\u201cThe climate on the high street remains extremely challenging, and TOFS and Claire\u2019s are not alone in experiencing difficulties,\u201d the firm said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA combination of very weak consumer confidence, highly adverse government fiscal policies, and continued cost inflation, is causing many established and much-loved businesses to suffer badly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a simple fact that if retailers can\u2019t make money, they risk having to close, and jobs across the country are lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

Modella bought more than 150 Claire\u2019s shops last year, but 145 were not included in the deal, leading to their closure.<\/p>\n

The fashion accessories chain had appointed administrators for its UK and Ireland business after filing for bankruptcy in the US.<\/p>\n

Modella has become a significant force in the British retail industry, having bought WH Smith\u2019s high street chain last year and taking over arts and crafts retailer Hobbycraft in 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The fashion accessories chain Claire’s has shut down all 154 of its high street outlets across the UK…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[10578,10555,667,10580,10579,5,10554,6],"class_list":["post-23480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uk","tag-claire39s","tag-fashion-accessories","tag-ireland","tag-modella-capital","tag-online-retailers","tag-uk","tag-uk-and-ireland","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116478121328406681","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}