Claire’s closed hundred of stores. Now the tween mall brand is turning up in locations you’d never expect

For years, Claire’s was a rite of passage for mall-going millennials who wanted to buy glittery accessories and butterfly hair clips, and also get their ears pierced.

Now the iconic fashion accessories and jewelry retailer is set to expand well beyond the mall.

Earlier this week, Ames Watson and Centric Brands announced a licensing partnership that will bring Claire’s to more than 7,000 new retail locations across North America. Currently, Claire’s operates more than 900 locations, many of which are in malls.

But Claire’s is set to diversify more. Centric Brands will help expand Claire’s presence into new categories and across major retail partners, including CVS, Kohl’s, and Walmart.

“By expanding our presence beyond our own stores, we’re able to meet consumers wherever they shop, while continuing to invest in the in-store experiences that define the brand, like ear piercing,” Lawrence Berger, cofounder and partner at Ames Watson, said in a statement.

A quick look at Claire’s past 

Between 2017 and 2018, Claire’s shuttered 189 stores, including some of its sister brand stores, Icing. The retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2018. 

The fashion and accessories company filed for bankruptcy for a second time in August 2025. Later that month, Claire’s was acquired by private equity firm Ames Watson for $140 million. Bankruptcy records listed 234 Claire’s stores and 56 Icing stores that were set to close.

Exclusive new items coming to store shelves

Centric Brands and Claire’s will develop an exclusive collection of trend-driven products. The new items will span across multiple categories, including:

• Cosmetics
• Jewelry
• Hair accessories
• Stationery
• Bags
• Novelty items 

Centric Brands will also expand Claire’s into additional retailers and explore new product categories, like apparel, accessories, home, and sleepwear.

The licensing partnership could lead to co-branded products being sold through shop-in-shop experiences, leveraging Centric Brands’ relationship with “entertainment studios and other IP holders.”

“The partnership reflects a shared commitment between Centric Brands and Ames Watson to scale Claire’s as a multi-channel brand through expanded distribution, strategic licensing partnerships, and consistent brand storytelling across every consumer touchpoint,” a news statement read. 

Claire’s isn’t new to retail partnerships

Retail partnerships are nothing new for Claire’s, but the scale of this expansion is.

In 2018, Claire’s began selling its products at select Walmart locations in the United States and Canada. The fashion accessories and jewelry retailer began partnering with Kohl’s in 2023.

This latest move is part of a bigger trend among brick-and-mortar retailers that have figured out ways to strategically coexist. Office supplies chain Staples, for example, recently announced that it would sell merchandise from Party City, a party supplies retailer that also filed for bankruptcy multiple times.

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