How Ames Watson is planning to reubild tween retailer Claire’s
People walk on December 11, 2024 at a Claire’s store in San Rafael, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Claire’s is going for a big makeup.
Ear drilling stations, jewelry and purple carpet known for the intermediate retailer, declared bankruptcy at the beginning of August, for the second time in seven years, about $ 500 million debt and an increasingly competitive environment.
Weeks later, Ames Watson, a private holding company, announced that it bought about 1,000 CLAire stores in North America with an agreement of $ 140 million to rebuild the brand. The announcement paused the liquidation process in most Claire stores.
“We went and started to detect a very deep situation and concluded that it was a broken job,” Ames Watson said to CNBC. He said.
The Ames Watson portfolio includes make -up of other businesses, including hat retailers and female retailer South Moon. Berger said that the company, which has more than $ 2 billion dollars, thought as “Mini Berkshire Hathaway” without the intention of selling themselves and transformed companies.
Above the assembly debt, Claire’s face many difficulties. The retailer is expected to encounter winds from President Donald Trump’s global tariffs, and shopping centers have seen traffic decreased for the last few years. Competitors like Studs and Lovisa have also emerged and aimed to offer stylish ear -piercing experiences.
Ames Watson founder Tom Ripley said that he was introduced to Claire’s for the first time through his twin daughters who were punctured in one of the retailer’s stores ten years ago. Ripley said that the experience shows that when the customers are combined with the loyalty of the brand, it shows that it is worth investing in it.
“This is the place where you bought a temple for this hymen and your first lip gloss, a friendship bracelet and your first piercing.” He said. “Claire’s transition to generations was the ritual.”
Reconstruction Plan
From the company’s research, Ames Watson identified the three main areas that Claire believes to be at the center of the rebirth: Mahamanism, Labor and Marketing. At the same time, the founders said they intend to protect the identity of Claire, which is very central for Millennials.
Merchandising and Berger said that the company plans to update the products in the store to update the products in the store to reflect the existing trends. He added that new products may include collaborations or exclusions, and that the company is watching a curator’s series of curatoric products, especially for sleep.
Berger, “I think merchandising, probably 70% is quite good, but I think we should change 30%.” He said. “So customers to see this will take six to nine months.”
Ames Watson also plans to increase fees, benefits and education for store employees, including a special “Piercing Excellence Team” that will travel throughout the country and train pierists in each store. Berger added that the piercing stations will also get an upgrade.
Finally, the new Claire, the company’s nostalgia, and the customers’ make -up for each new step will bring about the new marketing, he said.
“We will be very clear with our community about what we have changed, hoping that we can really connect with them and have a long -term relationship with them.” He said.
Claire’s founders Tom Ripley and Lawrence Berger
Photo: Ames Watson
The founding partners said that their strategies to cover a restaurant from a competing retailer informed Claire. Ames Watson bought Cover for $ 100 million in 2019 And increased the company’s income, increased in -store embroidery experiences and increased fees for employees.
For Claire’s, it is the center of the brand, such as drilling work, embroidery covers, because both of them are experienced experiences that customers cannot be online. Without losing the basic workpiece – the product, experience and focus on people – the modernization framework is the same that Ames Watson plans to use for Claire.
Ripley, “We do not make excessive lifting, we do not use hard work, and we do not translate things.” He said. “We round our arms, we do the job ourselves and building for the next generation.”
Ripley said that nostalgia is in the center of the Claire brand and focused on modernizing the Claire without losing the company’s “magic”.
The showcases will also be renewed, iconic purple carpets will receive a new cleaning and a upgrade of the goods.
“Part of Claire’s wonder and entertainment is the ability to walk in that store, and you don’t know what to expect. You are curling and discover something, Ber Berger said. “We don’t want to change this.”
Founding partners, Claire’s rebirth, children will bring their children to the stores will also hope to talk to the mothers, he said. The couple said the company tried to add products to the store for generations of women growing with Claire’s.
With these changes, Ripley and Berger said they hoped that Claire would reappear as a major player in the US shopping centers.
Berger, “Our hope, we will be profitable from the first day – this is our investment thesis, and to be open, this is healthy companies.” He said. He continued: “We believe that this is structured as a profitable way, but that means that we need to do our work correctly.”
