Claire’s expands – Claire’s is stepping far beyond the mall. A licensing partnership between Ames Watson and Centric Brands will bring the fashion accessories and jewelry retailer to more than 7,000 new retail locations across North America, including CVS, Kohl’s and Walmart—whi
For years, Claire’s was the kind of store you wandered into almost on autopilot—glittery accessories within reach, the promise of butterfly hair clips in the display, and the familiar process of getting your ears pierced.
Now the tween-and-teen staple is preparing to show up somewhere you’d never expect a mall brand to be: inside thousands of mainstream retail locations across North America.
Earlier this week, Ames Watson and Centric Brands announced a licensing partnership that will bring Claire’s to more than 7,000 new retail locations across North America. Claire’s currently operates more than 900 locations, many of which are in malls.
The expansion isn’t just about adding shelves. Centric Brands will help widen Claire’s presence across major retail partners. including CVS. Kohl’s. and Walmart. while also supporting growth into new categories. The goal. in practice. is to meet consumers where they already shop—without disappearing what made the brand feel like a destination.
“By expanding our presence beyond our own stores, we’re able to meet consumers wherever they shop, while continuing to invest in the in-store experiences that define the brand, like ear piercing,” Lawrence Berger, cofounder and partner at Ames Watson, said in a statement.
The licensing push comes with a clear business logic: distribution at scale, plus product development designed for broader retail settings.
Between 2017 and 2018, Claire’s shuttered 189 stores, including some of its sister brand stores, Icing. The retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2018. It later filed for bankruptcy for a second time in August 2025. Later that month, Claire’s was acquired by private equity firm Ames Watson for $140 million.
Bankruptcy records listed 234 Claire’s stores and 56 Icing stores that were set to close.
Against that backdrop, this licensing partnership reads less like a quiet growth plan and more like a pivot toward resilience—turning a brand that once leaned heavily on mall traffic into one built for multi-channel retail.
Ames Watson and Centric Brands plan to develop an exclusive collection of trend-driven products. The new items will span multiple categories, including cosmetics, jewelry, hair accessories, stationery, bags, novelty items, and more. Centric Brands will also expand Claire’s into additional retailers and explore new product categories. like apparel. accessories. home. and sleepwear.
The deal also leaves room for a particular retail style: co-branded products being sold through shop-in-shop experiences, leveraging Centric Brands’ relationship with “entertainment studios and other IP holders.”
“The partnership reflects a shared commitment between Centric Brands and Ames Watson to scale Claire’s as a multi-channel brand through expanded distribution, strategic licensing partnerships, and consistent brand storytelling across every consumer touchpoint,” a news statement read.
Retail partnerships are not new for Claire’s, but the scale of this expansion is.
In 2018, Claire’s began selling its products at select Walmart locations in the United States and Canada. The fashion accessories and jewelry retailer began partnering with Kohl’s in 2023.
Taken together. the latest move fits a wider pattern among brick-and-mortar retailers that have found ways to coexist rather than compete head-on for the same foot traffic. Office supplies chain Staples. for example. recently announced that it would sell merchandise from Party City. a party supplies retailer that also filed for bankruptcy multiple times.
Claire’s Centric Brands Ames Watson licensing partnership retail expansion CVS Kohl’s Walmart ear piercing cosmetics jewelry hair accessories stationery shop-in-shop