Claire’s Closed 154 Shops and Then Started Reopening: Where That Leaves Anyone Still Holding a Card
Two administrations in five months, every standalone UK shop shut on 27 April, and around 1,300 jobs gone. Then a French buyer took the name and started opening stores again. The part nobody explains is which Claire’s you are standing in, and whether it owes you anything.
What closed, what did not
| Figure | Value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Standalone stores closed | 154 | UK and Ireland. All shut on 27 April 2026. |
| Concessions | 356, unaffected | Counters inside other retailers, including Asda, kept trading throughout. This is the distinction that matters at the till. |
| Jobs lost | About 1,300 | Around 1,355 were at risk when the January administration was announced. |
| Administrations | Two in five months | August 2025 (Interpath Advisory), then January 2026 (Kroll) after the rescue failed. |
| Losses before it went | £25m over three years | Including a £4.7m loss in 2024, against £355m of debt due December 2026. |
| Reopening plan | About 50 stores | Under new owner Claire’s Europe, at a stated four to ten a week from June 2026. We could not verify how many have actually opened. |
What happened
Claire's is the shop where a generation of people got their ears pierced, which is why its collapse got more coverage than a mid-sized accessories chain normally would. The financial story underneath is duller and more familiar: £25m of losses over three years, including £4.7m in 2024, against £355m of debt falling due in December 2026.
It failed twice. The first administration came in August 2025, after the US parent filed for bankruptcy, with Will Wright and Chris Pole of Interpath Advisory appointed over Claire's Accessories UK and two associated companies. More than 300 stores and over 2,150 jobs were at risk. Modella Capital bought a large part of the estate, saved around 1,000 jobs and closed about 145 shops.
That rescue lasted five months. In January 2026 the business went into administration again, this time with Kroll, putting roughly 1,355 jobs across 154 stores at risk. The same period took down The Original Factory Shop, also owned by Modella, with about 1,220 jobs at 140 sites. On 27 April 2026 every standalone Claire's in the UK and Ireland closed, and around 1,300 people lost their jobs.
Then the odd part. In May, the French businessman Julien Jarjoura acquired the UK naming rights along with about 50 stores, a number of concessions and some of the executive team, under a new entity called Claire's Europe. From June it said it would open between four and ten stores a week. Kroll had trailed it carefully at the time: “We understand an interested party is in discussion with a number of landlords with a view to taking new leases for some of the sites.” New leases, note — not the old company continuing.
How it unfolded
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| August 2025 | The US parent files for bankruptcy. Claire’s Accessories UK and two associated companies go into administration with Interpath Advisory — more than 300 stores and over 2,150 jobs at risk. |
| Late 2025 | Modella Capital buys a large part of the UK estate, saving around 1,000 jobs. Roughly 145 stores close. |
| January 2026 | The rescue fails. A second administration, this time with Kroll. About 1,355 jobs at risk across 154 stores. The Original Factory Shop, also Modella-owned, goes under in the same period. |
| 27 April 2026 | Every standalone Claire’s in the UK and Ireland closes. Around 1,300 jobs go. The 356 concessions carry on trading. |
| May 2026 | French businessman Julien Jarjoura acquires the UK naming rights along with about 50 stores, several concessions and some of the management. |
| June 2026 | Claire’s Europe says it will open between four and ten stores a week. |
What this means if you shop there
The concessions never closed, and that is the practical headline. While all 154 standalone shops shut, 356 concessions carried on trading, including the counters inside Asda. If your nearest Claire's is a counter in a bigger shop rather than its own unit on the high street, nothing about your experience changed.
A reopened Claire's is a different company from the one that closed. The name and about 50 sites were bought; the business that owed money was not. In UK administrations, gift cards, credit notes and outstanding returns are unsecured claims against the old company, and a buyer of the brand is under no obligation to honour them. Some buyers choose to as a goodwill exercise, and some do not. We could not find any public statement from Claire's Europe either way — so if you are holding a card, ask in the shop before you plan a spend around it, and do not assume a refusal is the staff being awkward. It usually is not their company's debt.
Piercing aftercare is the one worth checking properly. If you were part-way through a piercing package or an aftercare arrangement bought from a store that has since closed, that is a service contract with the old company. Ask specifically rather than turning up expecting it to be honoured.
Do not read the reopening as a recovery. Fifty stores replacing 154 is a third of the estate, run by a new owner with new leases. It is a real return to the high street and it is also a much smaller business than the one that failed. Whether your particular town gets one back is genuinely unsettled.
Checked on 1 September 2026. A story this recent moves — we update this box rather than leaving it to rot.
Where this came from
- London Insider The fullest dated timeline we found: both administrations, the administrators, the loss and debt figures, the job numbers and the Jarjoura acquisition · 2026
- GB News The April closure, the 154 stores and roughly 1,300 job losses, the 356 unaffected concessions, and Kroll’s statement about landlord talks · 2026
- Retail Gazette Coverage of the planned return with around 50 stores · May 2026
- Time Out Cross-check on the 154 figure within its wider list of confirmed 2026 UK high street closures · 2026
What we could not check
- We could not confirm how gift cards, credit notes or outstanding returns have been treated. No public statement from Claire’s Europe or the administrators was findable on this point. The general position described above is how UK administrations normally work, not a statement about this company’s policy — check in store.
- We could not verify how many stores have actually reopened. “Four to ten a week from June” is the stated plan as reported in May; we found no later count, and a plan is not an outcome.
- Store and job figures vary a little between outlets depending on whether Ireland, concessions and head office staff are counted. We have used the most consistently reported numbers and said which is which.
- We have not seen the administrators’ reports to creditors, so nothing here should be read as a statement about what any creditor will recover.
- This page is a summary of reporting, not legal or financial advice. If money is genuinely at stake, Citizens Advice is the right place to ask about your position as a creditor.
Company figures are as reported by the businesses themselves or their administrators. Where two sources disagree, this page says so rather than picking one.