Editor’s Note
**Editor’s Note:** Claire’s is set to expand its retail footprint to approximately 7,000 new locations across North America through a multi-category licensing deal between Centric Brands and Ames Watson. The agreement follows Claire’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing last August and includes exclusive, trend-driven collections and expansion into new categories like home goods.
Claire’s jewelry and other products will be sold at about 7,000 new retail spaces across North America under the multi-category licensing agreement between Centric Brands and investment firm Ames Watson, which acquired Claire’s after the mall chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last August.
Centric, which is based in New York City, also will work with Claire’s to develop exclusive collections of trend-driven jewelry and fashion and will help Claire’s expand into such categories as home goods and sleepwear and other apparel—adding to the brand’s long-standing inventory of jewelry, bags, stationery, and hair accessories.
By Karen Dybis | May 19, 2026
Teen and tween accessories retailer Claire’s has signed a licensing agreement that will expand the Claire’s brand into major retail chains including Walmart, Kohl’s, and CVS.
The partnership represents a key milestone in Ames Watson’s strategy to scale Claire’s beyond its core retail footprint of 900-plus owned locations and build a more diversified platform, Centric Brands said.
Claire’s fleet of mall stores had contracted following the Chapter 11 filing, as well as an earlier bankruptcy, in 2018. The company has closed hundreds of stores in North America, and last year it shuttered all its stand-alone locations in the U.K.
Images from Claire’s marketing
Centric plans to leverage Claire’s status as a teen-centric retailer and Centric’s relationships with entertainment studios and other IP holders to bring co-branded licensed products to market.
Columbia, Md.–based Ames Watson, founded in 2018 by Lawrence Berger and Tom Ripley, also owns such consumer brands as Lids, Champion, South Moon Under, Mitchell & Ness, and Ebbets Field.
Under Ames Watson’s ownership, Claire’s has named Jillian Cueff, a veteran of Macy’s and Walmart, as chief merchandising officer. It also hired former Gap executive Michelle Goad as chief brand officer.
In April, Claire’s debuted a summertime marketing campaign, called “A Girl SMR at Claire’s,” that brings Summer Sensory Shops to its locations, with new products and store-based ASMR stations where consumers can make their own content to share on social media.
Top: SMR stands for sensory meridian response, and for summer, in Claire’s new marketing campaign. (Photos courtesy of Claire’s)