Claire's
Claire's is a privately held mall-based specialty retailer operating 700+ US stores and international locations, offering professional ear piercing services bundled with piercing kits plus fashion accessories, jewelry, beauty, tech accessories, and licensed-brand toys for children, tweens, teens, and young women.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded-
- HeadquartersHoffman Estates, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Claire's does
Claire's is a privately held specialty retailer (legal entity Claire's Essentials, LLC) headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, that operates a 700+ store mall-based chain across all 50 US states and Puerto Rico, with additional retail operations in the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Australia, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and the broader EU. The company's functional core is ear piercing services — performed by trained specialists using a proprietary hand-pressured instrument with single-use sterile cartridges rather than a piercing gun — bundled with the purchase of a piercing kit starting at $29.99 and scaling up to 14K white gold, diamond, cubic zirconia, and titanium options. Over 100 million ears have been pierced through the network, and the piercing program includes a documented training and certification pipeline for specialists plus age-extension into baby and toddler piercing.
The merchandising layer is a broad, trend-driven assortment of fashion accessories organized into jewelry (earrings, necklaces, bracelets, body jewelry, rings, anklets), hair accessories, beauty and makeup, tech accessories (phone cases, AirPods cases, chargers, PopSockets), toys and collectibles anchored by licensed brand partnerships (Squishmallows, Pusheen, Ty Beanies, L.O.L. Surprise!, JoJo Siwa, Frozen, Harry Potter), fashion accessories and bags, and home and stationery. Sub-brands include Icing by Claire's and the Claire's Club collection for children aged 3-6. Distribution combines company-owned physical retail with a Shopify-based e-commerce storefront and an Acuity Scheduling integration that converts piercing services into a bookable online funnel.
The revenue model is a mix of one-time merchandise sales across multiple price points (clearance items starting at $2, premium piercing kits at higher AUVs, and frequent 40%-off promotions), a service-anchored piercing bundle priced at a $29.99+ kit floor, in-store birthday party hosting as a professional service line, and subscription boxes as a recurring-revenue layer. Customer segments span children aged 3-10, tweens and teens aged 10-16, young women aged 16-25, and parents/guardians purchasing on behalf of children — a horizontal segmentation approach targeting the under-25 female-skewing demographic and the parent wallet. Marketing is executed through organic social (X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest), email, store-locator SEO, and in-store experiences, with no disclosed paid acquisition or AI-driven marketing technology.
Claire's firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Claire's
- Legal name
- Claire's Essentials, LLC
- Website
- https://stores.claires.com
- Company type
- Private
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Claire's is a privately held mall-based specialty retailer operating 700+ US stores and international locations, offering professional ear piercing services bundled with piercing kits plus fashion accessories, jewelry, beauty, tech accessories, and licensed-brand toys for children, tweens, teens, and young women.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Claire's industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Specialty Retail - Fashion Accessories and Ear Piercing
- NAICS
- Jewelry Retailers (458310), Jewelry Retailers (45831)
- SIC
- Retail-Jewelry Stores (5944)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Everyday Fashion Jewelry (Earrings/Necklaces/Bracelets/Rings) (CRAKABAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Body Jewelry (Piercing Jewelry; Non-precious) (CRAKABAG)
Keywords
Where Claire's is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Hoffman Estates
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices6 records
Markets served
Claire's business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Merchandise Sales: Claire's sells fashion accessories including jewelry, hair accessories, beauty products, tech accessories, toys, collectibles, fashion items, and home/stationery products through retail stores and e-commerce. Piercing kits include earrings and Aftercare Solution for piercing customers.
- Ear Piercing Services: Ear piercing is free with purchase of a piercing kit. The piercing kit includes earrings and Aftercare Solution. Kits start at $29.99 and increase based on style and material selected. Additional services include cartilage piercings and nose piercings at select locations.
- Birthday Party Services: Stores host birthday parties for children, with associates assisting with party planning, themes, and execution using Claire's products.
- Subscription Boxes: Claire's offers subscription boxes for recurring customer engagement and revenue.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Basic Piercing Kit - Entry level hypoallergenic studs |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Premium Piercing Kit - Higher quality materials and designs |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Ear Piercing Service |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Shipping |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Claire's product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Claire's operates a chain of mall-based specialty retail stores selling fashion accessories, jewelry, hair accessories, beauty products, tech accessories, toys and collectibles, and home/stationery items targeted at children, tweens, teens, and young women. The company also provides professional ear piercing services performed by trained specialists using a hand-pressured, non-gun instrument with single-use sterile cartridges; ear piercing is free with the purchase of a piercing kit starting at $29.99.
Product overview
Claire's is a retail accessories and ear piercing services company operating a chain of mall-based stores. The core offering consists of ear piercing services (free with kit purchase starting at $29.99) complemented by an extensive portfolio of fashion accessories including jewelry (earrings, necklaces, bracelets, body jewelry, rings), hair accessories, beauty and makeup products, tech accessories (phone cases, headphones, chargers), toys and collectibles (Squishmallows, Ty Beanies, L.O.L. Surprise!, Pusheen), fashion accessories (bags, sunglasses), home and stationery items, and a Claire's Club collection for children ages 3-6. The company also offers birthday party hosting services at select store locations.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Icing by Claire's: A sub-brand of Claire's offering fashion accessories and jewelry
- Claire's Club
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 100 million ears pierced worldwide
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Claire's
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Claire's technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Claire's partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Acuity SchedulingcoreClaire's uses Acuity Scheduling for online piercing appointment booking. Customers can book appointments through scheduling links linked to specific stores and calendar IDs.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Claire's competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Hot Topic: Mall-based youth retailer selling apparel, accessories, and licensed pop-culture merchandise (Disney, anime, gaming). Operates a similar in-mall, demo-aligned model to Claire's with strong exclusive licensed-brand merchandising.
- Pandora: Global jewelry retailer built on charm bracelets and collectible pieces. Comparable to Claire's in retail-channel structure (mall-based stores) and in driving repeat purchase through collectible/occasion-based jewelry.
- Ardene: Canadian youth-focused accessories, jewelry, and apparel retailer with mall-based stores. Closely comparable to Claire's on demographic (tweens/teens), category mix, and mall real estate.
- Francesca's: Women's fashion accessories, jewelry, and apparel retailer historically operating mall-based boutiques. Directly comparable to Claire's on jewelry-led assortment and female discretionary customer.
- Lovisa: Fast-fashion jewelry and accessories specialist with 700+ stores globally. Direct comparable to Claire's on fashion-jewelry category, price point, mall/strip-mall real estate, and young-female target customer.
- Accesssorize: UK-headquartered fashion accessories and jewelry retailer with global mall and high-street presence. Direct comparable on merchandise mix (jewelry, hair, bags) and young-female target market.
- Spencer Gifts: Mall-based novelty, accessories, and gag-gift retailer targeting teens and young adults. Shares Claire's mall-anchored real estate footprint and youth-discretionary customer base.
Broad incumbents
- Charming Charlie: Color-themed women's fashion accessories and jewelry retailer with broad assortment across jewelry, bags, and beauty. Comparable to Claire's on category mix and female demo, though historically operated larger-format stores.
- Urban Outfitters: Lifestyle retailer with mall/street locations carrying apparel, accessories, and beauty aimed at teens and young adults. Comparable on customer demo and mall real estate, though broader lifestyle assortment than jewelry-focused Claire's.
Emerging players
- BaubleBar: Digital-native fashion jewelry brand with selective physical retail. Comparable on fashion-jewelry category and tween/young-women demo, but competing via DTC channels rather than mall footprint.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Claire's social profiles
Digital presenceClaire's financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Claire's leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Claire's subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Claire's funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Claire's M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Claire's
What does Claire's do?
Claire's operates a chain of mall-based specialty retail stores selling fashion accessories, jewelry, hair accessories, beauty products, tech accessories, toys and collectibles, and home/stationery items targeted at children, tweens, teens, and young women. The company also provides professional ear piercing services performed by trained specialists using a hand-pressured, non-gun instrument with single-use sterile cartridges; ear piercing is free with the purchase of a piercing kit starting at $29.99.
Is Claire's a public or private company?
Claire's is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was Claire's founded?
Claire's was founded in -1. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Claire's based?
Claire's is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, United States, in the North America region.
How does Claire's make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Merchandise Sales are the primary driver. The others are ear Piercing Services, birthday Party Services and subscription Boxes.
Who are Claire's's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Hot Topic, Pandora, Ardene, Francesca's, Lovisa, Accesssorize and Spencer Gifts. Broad incumbents are Charming Charlie and Urban Outfitters. BaubleBar is listed as an emerging player.
Does Claire's have an API?
No public API is recorded for Claire's.
What industry is Claire's in?
Claire's's product category is Specialty Retail - Fashion Accessories and Ear Piercing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRAKABAA, Everyday Fashion Jewelry (Earrings/Necklaces/Bracelets/Rings), with a secondary code of CRAKABAG, Body Jewelry (Piercing Jewelry; Non-precious). Its NAICS code is 458310 and its SIC code is 5944.