Claire's
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use mdy dates Template:Use American English Template:More citations needed {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for clobbered parameters|check|nested=1|template=Infobox company|cat=Template:Main other|name; company_name|logo; company_logo|logo_alt; alt|trade_name; trading_name|former_names; former_name|type; company_type|predecessors; predecessor|successors; successor|foundation; founded|founders; founder|defunct; dissolved|hq_location; location|hq_location_city; location_city|hq_location_country; location_country|num_locations; locations|areas_served; area_served|net_income; profit|net_income_year; profit_year|owners; owner |homepage; website }}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox company with unknown parameter "_VALUE_" | ignoreblank=y | alt | area_served | areas_served | assets | assets_year | aum | brands | company_logo | company_name | company_type | defunct | dissolved | divisions | embed | equity | equity_year | fate | footnotes | former_name | former_names | foundation | founded | founder | founders | genre | homepage | hq_location | hq_location_city | hq_location_country | incorporated | image | image_alt | image_caption | image_size | image_upright | income_year | industry | ISIN | key_people | location | location_city | location_country | locations | logo | logo_alt | logo_caption | logo_class | logo_size | logo_upright | members | members_year | module | name | native_name | native_name_lang | net_income | net_income_year | num_employees | num_employees_year | num_locations | num_locations_year | operating_income | owner | owners | parent | predecessor | predecessors | production | production_year | products | profit | profit_year | rating | ratio | revenue | revenue_year | romanized_name | services | subsid | successor | successors | traded_as | trade_name | trading_name | type | website| qid | fetchwikidata | suppressfields | noicon | nocat | demo | categories }}
Claire's (formerly known as Claire's Boutiques, Claire's Boutique and Claire's Accessories) is an American retailer of accessories, jewelry, and toys primarily aimed towards tween and teen girls, and young women. It was founded in 1961 and is based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.<ref name="10-K FYE Jan14">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The company is primarily owned by Elliott Management and Monarch Alternative Capital,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but, in 2022, announced plans to go public with an initial public offering.<ref name="KhraisAmin">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:As of, Claire's had 3,469 stores in 37 countries.<ref name=pressrelease>Template:Cite press release</ref> Claire's claims it has done more ear piercings than any other retailer, totaling at over 100 million in 25+ years.<ref name="piercing">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} </ref>
HistoryEdit
Template:More citations needed In 1961, Rowland Schaefer founded Fashion Tress Industries, a company that sold wigs and became the world's largest retailer for fashion wigs.<ref name="FundingUniverse">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1973, Fashion Tress acquired Claire's, a 25-store jewelry chain, and began shifting its focus towards a line of fashion jewelry and accessories under the new name, Claire's Accessories, Inc.<ref name="FundingUniverse" /> Claire's Accessories began providing ear piercing services in 1978 and, in 1980, established a Hong Kong-based sourcing office. During the 1980s, Claire's Accessories opened new stores throughout the United States and bought Topkapi, a Japanese chain of 16 stores, in 1989.<ref name="FundingUniverse" /> Claire's Accessories continued acquiring companies in the 1990s, including Bow Bangles — a British chain with 71 stores in England, Wales, and Scotland — in 1995; two American chains, The Icing (85 stores) and Accessory Place (31 stores), in 1996;<ref name="FundingUniverse" /> and Bijoux One, a Swiss chain, in 1998.<ref>Altaner, David. "CLAIRE'S BUYS SWISS CHAIN; 53-STORE BIJOUX ONE EXPANDS COMPANY'S EUROPEAN BASE." Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel. November 12, 1998. Business 3D. Retrieved on June 20, 2013. "Claire's Stores based in Pembroke Pines, said on Wednesday that it bought a Swiss women's accessory chain, Bijoux One, that it expects to use as an entry into[...]"</ref> The Icing would become the company's primary brand for women in their 20s.<ref name="FundingUniverse" /> In 1999, Claire's purchased Cleopatre, a chain in Paris with 42 stores, for $11 million cash,<ref>"CLAIRE'S SETS EYES ON FRANCE." Miami Herald. December 15, 1999. p. 1C Business. Retrieved on June 20, 2013.</ref> as well the American chain, Afterthoughts. Afterthoughts stores were converted to Icing stores after they were purchased.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1997, the business changed its name to Claire's.Template:Citation needed In 2001, claires.com was launched. In 2002, the company purchased the US-based clothing chain Mr. Rags.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Claire's was a publicly-traded company listed on the NASDAQ in 2005,Template:Citation needed but was taken private by the private equity firm Apollo Global Management in a $3.1 billion leveraged buyout in 2007.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2008, Claire's consolidated its European operations into one group with headquarters in Birmingham. The first stores in Ukraine were opened in 2010.Template:Citation needed In 2011, e-commerce operations were launched in the United States, alongside the opening of stores in India and Mexico. In 2012, Claire's expanded its international presence by opening its first stores in China, Italy, Indonesia, Luxembourg, Dominican Republic, Panama, and Honduras.
In 2018, Claire's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> By 2022, Claire's had exited bankruptcy, announced preliminary sales growth for fiscal year 2021 of 53% on revenue of $1.4 billion, and announced plans for an initial public offering.<ref name="KhraisAmin"/> The company's new strategy involves shuttering stores in underperforming locations in favor of "prestige" malls, as well as setting up kiosk shops within drug and grocery store chains.<ref name="KhraisAmin"/>
OfficesEdit
Template:As of Claire's had 6 offices:<ref name="10-K FYE Jan14"/>
- Hoffman Estates, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago): Global HQ, North America HQ, North America Distribution Center<ref>"Contact Us." Claire's Stores. Retrieved on June 20, 2013. "HEADQUARTERS
FLORIDA OFFICE: Claire's Stores, Inc. 3 S.W. 129th Avenue Pembroke Pines, FL 33027[...]ILLINOIS OFFICE: Claire's Stores, Inc. 2400 West Central Road Hoffman Estates, IL 60192"</ref><ref>"Registration No. 333-." Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved on June 21, 2013. " 2400 West Central Road Hoffman Estates, IL 60192 [...] (Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant's principal executive offices)"</ref><ref>"Filed Pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3) Registration No. 333-175171." Securities and Exchange Commission. p. 5. Retrieved on June 21, 2013. "Our principal executive offices are located at 2400 West Central Road, Hoffman Estates, Illinois 60192."</ref>
- Birmingham: Europe HQ, Europe Distribution Center
- Hong Kong: Sourcing & Buying, International Distribution Center<ref name="MannGirls">Mann, Leslie. "Hot Stuff." Chicago Tribune. December 14, 1997. (Retrieved 2019-04-10.) "Since 1973, Schaefer has been commuting from his offices in Pembroke Pines, Fla., to the company's main facility and distribution center, first located in Wood Dale and now in Hoffman Estates. (The company also has offices in New York and Hong Kong.)"</ref>
- Pembroke Pines, Florida (a suburb of Miami): Accounting
- Paris: Field Support
- Madrid: Field Support
Illinois officeEdit
Claire's has its Illinois offices in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.<ref>"Northwest Briefs." Daily Herald. August 15, 1998. Business 1. Retrieved on December 24, 2011. "Pembroke Pines, Fla.-based Claire's owns several retail chains that sell accessories and clothes for teenagers. Claire's has Hoffman Estates operations."</ref><ref>"Disney exec named Claire's CEO." Crain's Chicago Business. June 6, 2012. Retrieved on June 20, 2013. "The Hoffman Estates-based purveyor of fashion jewelry and accessories for teens had been without a permanent chief executive since January, when Eugene Kahn resigned."</ref> The facility is a brown brick building off of Interstate 90,<ref name="MannGirls"/><ref name=Russis>Russis, Martha. "PFIZER FINDS BUYER FOR ITS HEADQUARTERS." Chicago Tribune. January 13, 1995. METRO NORTHWEST p. 3. Retrieved on June 20, 2013. "Jewelry retailer Claire's Boutiques Inc. has bought the expansive Pfizer headquarters building along the Northwest Tollway near Barrington Road, a Pfizer representative said Thursday. Pfizer spokesman Andy McCormick said the headquarters was sold early this month for $7.4 million as part of the company's move to consolidate its distribution operations to Memphis. [...] The Hoffman Estates building at 2400 Central Rd. has 247,000 square feet of space. Claire's Boutiques' national headquarters is now in Wood Dale at 1501 N.[...]"</ref> near Barrington Road.<ref name=Russis/> The building serves as Claire's distribution center and main facility, and all merchandise is routed through this facility. Its products, which, as of 1996, are mainly imported, are distributed and marketed through the Hoffman Estates location.<ref name="MannGirls"/> The company's buying, distribution, and marketing divisions are in the Hoffman Estates facility.<ref name="FAQ"/> As of 1996, 236 full-time employees and several temporary employees worked in the facility. Leslie Mann of the Chicago Tribune said that the facility "contrasts with Claire's glittery stores in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom and Japan."<ref name="MannGirls"/> Mann added, "Except for the prototype store in the lobby and the fashion accessories that line the walls of the buyers' offices, the center is unremarkable."<ref name="MannGirls"/>
A facility in Wood Dale, Illinois, used to serve the purposes now held by the Hoffman Estates office.<ref name="MannGirls"/> In early January 1995, Pfizer sold its Hoffman Estates headquarters building for $7.4 million to Claire's so it could consolidate its operations in Memphis, Tennessee. At the time, the Hoffman Estates office had Template:Convert of space.<ref name=Russis/> In 1998, Claire's announced plans to build a two-story office building and a Template:Convert warehouse at the Hoffman Estates site. This would double the total amount of space at the Illinois site.<ref>Wallace, Diana. "Claire's unveils plans for large expansion in Hoffman Estates." Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Illinois). March 18, 1998. News p. 4. Retrieved on June 20, 2013. "Claire's, the women's accessories giant, is planning an expansion expected to double the number of employees at its Hoffman Estates distribution center over the next two years. Plans for a 275,000-square-foot warehouse and two-story office-building addition to the shipping headquarters located at 2400 W. Central Road were unveiled to Hoffman Estates trustees this week for a preliminary review. The expansion would more than double the space at the site,[...]"</ref>
Florida officeEdit
Its Florida office in Pembroke Pines, Florida, in Greater Miami.<ref>Giovis, Jaclyn. "EQUITY FIRM BUYS CLAIRE'S PEMBROKE PINES RETAILER AGREES TO $3.1 BILLION DEAL Template:Webarchive." South Florida Sun-Sentinel. March 21, 2007. D1. Retrieved on December 24, 2011. "[...]which may include shedding Claire's Pembroke Pines headquarters and workers."</ref><ref name="Contactus">"Contact Us." Claire's Stores Inc. Retrieved on December 24, 2011. "FLORIDA OFFICE: Claire's Stores, Inc. 3 S.W. 129th Avenue Pembroke Pines, FL 33027" and "ILLINOIS OFFICE: Claire's Stores, Inc. 2400 West Central Road Hoffman Estates, IL 60192"</ref> The Florida offices are west of the intersection of Flamingo Road and Pines Boulevard. It has Template:Convert of space in its Florida offices.<ref name=ClairesMovesDade>"CLAIRE'S MOVES OFFICES TO PINES." South Florida Sun-Sentinel. October 12, 1990. p. 3D. Retrieved on June 20, 2013. "Claire's Stores, a fashion accessories retailer, moved its headquarters this week from north Dade County to Pembroke Pines. "We outgrew our headquarters," chief financial officer Howard Kaplan said. The retailer had 10,000 square feet in Dade and has 26,000 square feet at its new site at 3 SW 129th Ave., west of the intersection of Pines Boulevard and Flamingo Road."</ref> The current CEO for Claire's is Ryan Vero<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As of 1997 the CEO has his office in Pembroke Pines.<ref name="MannGirls"/> In addition, the company's customer service and investor relations divisions are located in the Pembroke Pines offices.<ref name="FAQ">"FAQ Template:Webarchive." Claire's. Retrieved on December 25, 2011. "Claire's Stores, Inc. has its investor relations and customer service located in Pembroke Pines, Florida. The buying, marketing and distribution offices are located in Hoffman Estates, a suburb of Chicago. Please visit Contact Us if you would like to send correspondence to our corporate headquarters."</ref> In November 1990 Claire's moved its Florida offices from northern Dade County to Pembroke Pines. The former headquarters in Dade County had Template:Convert of space.<ref name=ClairesMovesDade />
Store typesEdit
Claire's stores average about 1,000 square feet, are typically located in malls and shopping centers, and carry the widest selection of merchandise among Claire's brands. Merchandise is targeted at different age groups ranging from children to young adults. Customers can find earrings, necklaces, bracelets, purses, hair accessories, fashion accessories, stuffed animals, makeup, and licensed merchandise. Stores are merchandised to accommodate different ages, and fashion trends are manipulated to appeal to all ages. Toys "R" Us also included a Claire's section for preteen and teenage girls.
In North America, Claire's also operates under the Icing brand, targeted toward older teens and young women aged 19–28. The merchandise is more expensive and has a more sophisticated look. Most items include accessories and jewelry, but merchandise also includes items such as candles, mineral-based cosmetics, birthday accessories, bachelorette and wedding accessories, and footwear. Icing typically does not offer licensed merchandise.<ref name="IcingByClaires.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Clear left
MerchandiseEdit
Claire's sells fashion accessories that are geared towards children, tweens, teens, and young adults and are meant to imitate high-end fashion trends. Costume jewelry, imitation jewelry of precious gems and materials like pearls and diamonds, licensed merchandise, body jewelry, hair accessories, make-up, stuffed animals and clothing items are usually available for purchase; Claire's also carries its own range of perfumes.
The store's merchandise is often divided into sections. Claire's Club is a line of accessories aimed at children under seven years old, featuring princess-themed jewelry and accessories with musicians such as Sophia Grace & Rosie. The rest of the store is aimed at tweens, teens and young adults.
Claire's also carries an assortment of seasonal holiday items, such as for Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, and Christmas.
Some locations subsequently cater ear piercing, as all staff are fully trained in using a Studex instrument. Claire's starts piercing customers at the age of four months with their immunizations and does not pierce the cartilage of people under 14 years of age. Although the target customers are girls and young women, as fashion trends have changed, the place has also become popular for young boys to get their ears pierced.
Asbestos recallsEdit
Claire's have been subject to numerous cases of alleged "asbestos presence" in its products. These traces have been found in products containing talcum powder, a naturally occurring silicate substance. Talcum powder has been known to contain traces of asbestos, a recognized human carcinogen. On March 5, 2019, Claire's stated that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) believed some of the company's products may have been contaminated with asbestos. Claire's stated that the FDA had "mis-characterized fibers in the products as asbestos, in direct contradiction to established EPA and USP criterion for classifying asbestos fibers".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
On March 11, 2019, the FDA tested more Claire's products, indicating "the possible presence of asbestos". The affected products were sold between October 2016 to March 2019. In response to the FDA claim, Claire's stated they continue to have confidence in the safety of their products, however also issued a voluntary recall and advised consumers to discontinue use. On May 30, 2019, a JoJo Siwa cosmetic kit was voluntarily recalled due to the FDA warning consumers of "the possible presence of asbestos". The powder eyeshadow element of the kit was affected due to the possible presence of "trace amounts of asbestos fibers". Claire's stated these trace amounts were acceptable by European and Canadian cosmetic regulations, and they had ended the use of talcum powder in its products.
The company still "continues to have confidence in the safety and composition of its products" and "is not aware of any adverse reactions, injuries or illness caused by the possible presence of asbestos in the recalled products". Siwa posted a video informing her audience that Claire's would accept refunds of products new and used, stating she puts her "trust into other people's hands" with her products and was working to recall items from all shelves.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web
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