Claires has reimagined its core piercing business, transforming its classic service to reflect modern girls, with everything from upgraded training for associates to elevated in-store experiences and a fresh look with a lilith (lavender) color scheme across all stores in the U.S. and Canada.
“It’s a unique white space,” said Jillian Cueff, Chief Merchandising Officer of Claire’s, who joined the company in January. “There’s no other place to get your ears pierced in the mall. We pierce all of America and Canada, too. It’s our bullseye.”
However, the retail piercing industry has grown more competitive in recent years, with companies such as Rowan and Studs also offering the service. Yet, no one caters to Gen Alpha girls the way Claire’s does with its target age of 10.
“One of the things we want our brand to represent is a playground for girlhood,” said Cueff. “We’re creating a destination for her in the mall. That’s where we started. Piercing is what we’re known for.”
The company has been piercing girls and their mothers for nearly five decades with 131 million ears pierced to date. Cueff said the price remains the same as when Claire’s started. “We’ve elevated the experience, to a clinical level,” she said. “Before, we felt like it was less of an environment girls wanted to be in.”
Claire’s worked with industry experts on ongoing education and re-certification across stores, enhanced clinical training, FDA‑registered medical devices, and elevated safety protocols. The brand introduced professional instructors who travel across the country to train and support Claire’s store associates. The instructors are called the Piercing Excellence Team.
Styles including single studs and a selection with lab-grown diamonds are new to the retailer, which offers free piercing and aftercare with the purchase of an ear piercing kit starting at $29.99.
A curved purple piercing station welcomes girls with newly added earring bars. “We know this customer loves to explore and touch and feel before they get the piercing done,” Cueff said. “For some our more cautious consumers we have squishies to hold.
“We made a dedicated place for piercing in the store and added selfie mirrors,” she said. “We know she likes to share everything with all of her friends.”
Claire’s consumers love toys, candy and viral products, Cueff said, adding, “We have some third party brands that are in the toy space. It complements that moment with all the things the Gen Alpha girl wants. It’s organized with a little bit more inspiration and surprise.”
Claire’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2018. An initial public offering was planned in 2021, but those plans were scuttled in 2023. Last August it closed more that 290 stores, including 234 Claire’s locations and 56 Icing stores as part of a second bankruptcy. There was the subsequent sale of the company for $140 million to private equity firm Ames Watson.
The most recent bankruptcy wasn’t due to declining profits – the retailer said it had doubled profits – but rather a perfect storm of debt, operational decline and structural weakness that made the business untenable.
“I consider myself part of the leadership team and we’re focused on driving revenue and profit,” Cueff said. “This year’s focus is giving our customer that surprise and delight experience every time she comes in. We’re all focused on making sure the customer is at the center of our decisions. We’re excited to create for her.”
The first iteration of the new store elements bowed at a location in Santa Anita, California today.
This summer, the store is a playground geared to Claire’s 10-year-old target customer, a Gen Alpha fan girl. “We have some exciting marketing campaigns that are launching for fall,” Cueff said. “We speak to consumers and have many focus groups. We listen day in and day out to actual customers.”
Claire’s is also focused on increasing style, quality and value. “This customer can make up her mind very quickly,” said Cueff. “We’re making sure we’re delivering on time when she wants it. We’re elevating the trend worthiness across the total store and about 9,000 skus. That’s down from where we’ve been in the past when the store was more disjointed and bazaar-like.”
Cueff is concentrating on Claire’s own stores. “We always have aspirations for opening more stores, but making sure the ones we have are rocking and rolling, is our top priority right now,” she said of the 900-store fleet.
