Claire’s French Subsidiary Enters Bankruptcy Amid Ongoing Crisis

After the United States and the United Kingdom, it is now France. The American group Claire’s, which specializes in jewelry and accessories for girls and teenagers, is taking its French subsidiary to court. The Paris Commercial Court has declared the company’s French subsidiary in redressement judiciare (equivalent to Chapter 11).

Claire’s has a network of 239 stores and 1,258 employees in France. With the entry into court, the company is seeking to gain time to secure its future by finding a buyer for the business in the country.

In the United Kingdom, the company is also considering the sale of its business. Last week, it emerged that the investment group Hilco Capital could be about to submit a bid for the British subsidiary, which has 280 stores.

Claire’s has a total of 239 stores and 1,258 employees in France

Claire’s has a network of 2,750 stores in seventeen countries, as well as a presence in department stores in the United States and Europe and a network of more than 300 franchises in the Middle East and South Africa.

In the United States, the company is on the verge of bankruptcy, pressured by a bulky debt maturing soon, a fall in consumption in the country and an increase in costs due to changes in tariff policy, which especially impact purchases in China.

Claire’s of accessories has been going through difficulties since 2018, when it already filed for bankruptcy proceedings in the United States. At that time, the company’s owner, Apollo Global Management, transferred the asset to creditors, including Elliott Management and Monarch Alternative Capital.