Claire’s France Secures Future: Over 100 Stores and 500 Jobs Retained

Claire’s saves part of its business in France. The accessories chain for children and teenagers will continue to operate in France, after the courts approved two bids to take over part of the company’s business. The French subsidiary of the company entered into insolvency proceedings in July, as did the companies in Spain and the United Kingdom.

Claire’s business in France is now mainly in the hands of the fashion jewelry chain June, which has managed to obtain a license to operate the chain’s brand for the next ten years, according to AFP. The ruling, issued on Friday by the Paris economic activities court, involves the transfer of 140 points of sale to June, out of the total 240 stores the company had in France.

In addition, the fashion jewelry company will keep 450 employees, out of the 830 that made up the Claire’s workforce when it entered bankruptcy proceedings. Another much smaller part of the chain’s business will now be controlled by the Spanish company La Casa de las Carcasas, which will take over three of the company’s stores and will maintain some thirty jobs.

Claire’s also entered into bankruptcy proceedings in Spain and the United Kingdom

“The first proposals received at the beginning of September were very low,“ the unions have now assessed, while at the same time they have valued the fact that they have managed to keep half of the workforce. The company has justified the cessation of the business by the fall in sales and low demand, together with the negative effect of the imposition of tariffs on products from China.

In recent months, in fact, Claire’s businesses in Spain and the United Kingdom and Ireland have also declared bankruptcy. For the time being, the British subsidiary has already been partially acquired by a private equity firm, while in Spain, the company received offers from the first interested parties at the beginning of November.

In the United States, on the other hand, one of the first countries to show weakness, Claire’s sold the business back in August. The transaction, the amount of which was not disclosed, involved the transfer to the private equity firm Ames Watson.