Claire’s expands jewelry into 7,000 Walmart, Kohl’s and CVS stores

Claire’s has taken its teen-culture sparkle out of the mall and into the aisles of mass retail. An exclusive licensing partnership with Centric Brands will put the brand into more than 7,000 stores across the United States and Canada, including Walmart, Kohl’s and CVS, a shift that could make low-commitment jewelry as easy to pick up as toothpaste or shampoo.

For shoppers, the significance is not just reach, but format. Claire’s is no longer relying only on its 900-plus owned stores to sell the quick-hit accessories that built its name. The company and Ames Watson have framed the expansion as a way to build a more diversified, multichannel growth platform, and the new rollout extends well beyond jewelry into cosmetics, hair accessories, stationery, bags and novelty items. That breadth matters: it suggests Claire’s is trying to become a constant retail presence, not just a mall destination for a one-time browse.

The move also says something about how inexpensive jewelry is being sold in 2026. In big-box and drugstore settings, the appeal is rarely about heirloom quality or precious materials. It is about easy decisions, small price tags and pieces that can be stacked, swapped and worn without much thought. That is exactly where Claire’s has always been strongest, as a brand long associated with teens and tweens, ear piercing and impulse purchases made on the way to the checkout line.

Ames Watson’s role gives the expansion additional weight. The Columbia, Maryland-based company acquired Claire’s North American business for $140 million in 2025, then steered it through a second Chapter 11 filing in August 2025, after the company’s earlier bankruptcy case in March 2018. The new wholesale-style push looks designed to preserve what still works about Claire’s while loosening its dependence on mall traffic, which has been squeezed by shifting shopping habits and online competition.

For consumers, the appeal is obvious: Claire’s will now be embedded in the same stores where many people already buy everyday essentials. For jewelry buyers, that could mean wider access to playful, affordable pieces that do not ask for much commitment. It also sharpens the contrast with the minimalist case for buying fewer, better staples, whether that means a pair of well-made small hoops, a simple chain or a piece built to stay in rotation longer than one season. Claire’s is betting on reach and immediacy; the quieter, more durable end of the jewelry case still wins on longevity.