Claire’s UK planning to close stores as it considers CVA

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Oct 15, 2018

A number of Claire’s stores in the UK face an uncertain future as the accessories retailer considers a number of restructuring options, including a CVA.

The company is the latest in a string of retailers to show signs of trouble in the highly competitive and challenging UK retail market.

It comes days after the retailer’s US parent company completed its financial restructuring and emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with CEO Ron Marshall describing Claire’s as a “healthier, more profitable company.”

But the company continues to struggle in the UK, and is working with restructuring firm Alix Partners on a number of options, reported the Press Association on Monday.

These include a Company Voluntary Agreement, a controversial insolvency procedure which has helped several other British retailers, including New Look and Mothercare, close stores and renegotiate rents.

Claire’s has 370 stores in the UK and dozens of concessions, its most recent accounts showed. If it moves ahead with a CVA, more than a hundred jobs could be lost.

The chain specialises in fashion jewellery and accessories primarily aimed at girls and young women. It filed for bankruptcy in the US in March to eliminate a substantial portion of debt from its balance sheet. Like many others, Claire’s has struggled as mall traffic has declined and consumer spending has shifted from physical retail to online.