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Talk about the end of an era. If you or a mate ever had your ears pierced at Claire’s or tried on lip gloss with a questionable approach to health and safety, you’ll be gutted to hear that the brand is closing a staggering 154 stores, sadly costing around 1,300 jobs in the process.
Even the Claire’s website has now ceased retailing, though it’s still pointing customers to bag ‘3 FOR 2 ON ALMOST EVERYTHING!’ in physical shops.
The news comes after Time Out reported that more than half of Claire’s branches could be closing back in October. The company almost disappeared before Modella Capital, the private equity firm that previously snapped up WH Smiths and Hobbycraft shops, had agreed to buy ‘substantially most’ of Claire’s UK. The 145 shops that were not included in the deal closed in November.
List of Claire’s locations in the UK
According to the storefinder on the brand's website, these are:
- Aberdeen
- Aylesbury
- Bangor
- Basingstoke
- Bath
- Belfast
- Bexleyheath
- Birkenhead
- Birmingham New Street
- Birmingham Bullring
- Blackpool
- Blanchardstown
- Bluewater
- Banbridge
- Bracknell
- Bradford
- Braehead
- Braintree
- Brent Cross
- Bridgend
- Bristol
- Bristol – Cribbs Causeway
- Bromley
- Burnley
- Bury St Edmunds
- Dalton Park
- Darlington
- Derby
- Dudley
- Dundalk
- Dundee
- Eastbourne
- Edinburgh – Gyle
- Edinburgh – Princes Street
- Edinburgh – Fort Kinnaird
- Enfield
- Ennis
- Exeter
- Ilford
- Inverness
- Ipswich
- Leamington Spa
- Leeds – Trinity
- Leeds – White Rose
- Leicester
- Lichfield
- Lincoln
- Liverpool
- Llanelli
- London – O2
- London – Stratford
- London – Wandsworth
- London – Wembley Park
- London – White City
- London – Wood Green
- Londonderry
- Southend
- Spalding
- St Albans
- Stafford
- Staines
- Stevenage
- Stockport
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Street
- Sutton
- Sutton Coldfield
- Swansea
- Swindon
- Taunton
- Telford
- Thanet
- Thurmaston
- Thurrock
- Truro
- Tunbridge Wells
- Uxbridge
- Wakefield
- Warrington
- Waterford
- Watford
- Wellingborough
- West Bromwich
- Weymouth
- Whiteley
- Witney
- Wolverhampton
- Worcester
- Worthing
- Wrexham
As we reported at the time, Claire’s entered administration in January. Now, the administrators Kroll have said: ‘As of April 27, all Claire’s standalone stores in UK and Ireland have ceased trading. All store employees have been advised of redundancy.’
Market experts have blamed the brand’s downfall on the rise of ultra-cheap online retailers such as Shein and Temu, while Amazon has likely also played a part. It’s a sad end for the feel-good, purple-fronted shop, which has been a British high street staple since 1996.
The brand’s head office is unaffected. There’s another sliver of good news in that Claire’s 356 concessions stands, which appear in larger stores such as ASDA, will also remain open. So if you do want to grab a lip gloss and do your thing, best get down to one of those ASAP.
Full list of UK high street closures confirmed in 2026.
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