Claire’s closes all 154 UK and Ireland high street stores
Claire’s shut 154 UK and Ireland high street stores, putting about 1,300 jobs at risk while 356 concessions stayed open.
Claire’s has shut all 154 of its standalone high street stores in the UK and Ireland, putting about 1,300 workers out of a job and leaving only its concessions, including many inside Asda stores, still trading.
The closures marked another sharp retreat for a brand that once sat close to the center of teen shopping culture, selling cheap jewellery, fashion accessories and ear-piercing services to generations of mall and high street customers. Instead, the business has become a case study in how fast that market has unraveled, as lower footfall, online competition and changing shopping habits have steadily eroded the economics of mid-market youth retail.
Kroll, which is overseeing the administration, said all store employees had been advised of redundancy. The administrator also said an interested party was in discussion with a number of landlords about taking new leases for some of the sites, leaving open the possibility that a limited number of the properties could return to trading under a different format or owner.
The collapse came after Claire’s fell into administration twice in one year. Modella Capital acquired most of the UK and Ireland business in September 2025, after earlier reporting said the company entered administration in August 2025 following years of financial difficulties. The latest shutdowns do not affect the retailer’s 356 concessions or its head office operations, but they do wipe out the chain’s standalone presence across the two markets.
Before the closures, Claire’s UK and Ireland business employed about 2,100 people across 278 locations in the UK and 28 in Ireland. That makes the loss of 154 stores and 1,300 jobs more than a restructuring exercise: it is a blunt measure of how far a once-ubiquitous brand has shrunk as shopping patterns moved away from the high street and toward digital and convenience-led retail.
For the UK and Ireland high street, the disappearance of Claire’s is another sign that the old formula for selling to teenagers and young shoppers no longer works as it once did. What remains is a smaller, concession-based business and a brand name that still carries recognition, but far less of the physical reach that once made it a fixture of everyday shopping.
Sources:
Know something we missed? Have a correction or additional information?
Submit a Tip
