The iconic high street accessories chain Claire’s is closing all of its UK stores and people are feeling incredibly nostalgic.
On Monday (27 April), it was announced that all 154 standalone Claire’s stores in the UK and Ireland have closed, resulting in redundancy for 1,300 staff.
Formerly known as Claire’s Accessories, the shop was a mainstay on UK high streets in the ‘90s and early 2000s and was the place to go for all tweens looking to get in on the latest accessory trends.
As well as its brightly coloured storefronts, and more pieces of jewellery than you can shake a stick at on its racks, Claire’s was famous for its ear-piercing service, which is a theme that continued to come up as millennials reflected on the news that the shop from their childhood is no more.
“We never did have larst piercing did we darlin,” one person wrote.
Someone else said: “Right so I’m just supposed to get over this like it wasn't part of my childhood k ... also another tween and teen friendly place gone !!!!!”
“The end of an era,” another said.
“I got my cartilage pierced so many times at Claire’s bc I kept losing the earring that I now have like six different mostly closed over holes on each ear,” another reminisced.
On Instagram, someone commented: “We need a national day of mourning.”
Another said: “Blame myself for stealing earrings and lip gloss in 2004 x”
“Forever remember getting my ear pierced in Chelmsford next to the 1D merch. Such an Essex-coded day,” wrote another person.
One X/Twitter user wrote: “I got almost all my accessories from them when I was a tween.”
Someone else argued: “It’s a sad day to see Claire’s close down. This is what happens when kids are brought up on influencer culture, they're not happy with 99p zigzag hairbands, peel-off varnish, earring STICKERS, and now need top-name skincare and Monica Vinader bangles. A total loss for childhood.”
Another lamented: “It’s kind of sad that we’re losing the joy of being 13 and wandering the high street shops because now you can just get everything on Amazon.”
Why not read…
Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
