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Mallrat haven Claire's files for bankruptcy [1]

['Rob Beschizza']

Date: 2025-08-07

Claire's, offering inexpensive jewelry and cosmetics for teenagers in the malls of America and Europe, is bankrupt. Of the many stores (2750, according to Claire's, down from more than 4,000 the last time it declared bankruptcy in 2018) only 18 will close immediately, but the list will grow as it wrangles out of leases.

Funnily enough, the famous shoplifter magnet did not cite shrinkage in its statement. Instead, "macroeconomic factors."

"This decision is difficult, but a necessary one. Increased competition, consumer spending trends, and the ongoing shift away from brick-and-mortar retail, in combination with our current debt obligations and macroeconomic factors, necessitate this course of action for Claire's and its stakeholders," said Chris Cramer, CEO of Claire's. "We remain in active discussions with potential strategic and financial partners and are committed to completing our review of strategic alternatives."

Today a wide variety of tariffs kick in, though it's the end of the de minimis exemption on cheap imports that seems the most likely death blow here. Another third place disappears; who knew?

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[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2025/08/07/mallrat-haven-claires-files-for-bankruptcy.html

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