Claire’s Could Have Owned The ’90s/00’s Revival, But Lost It’s Sparkle

From Clueless to Tamagotchis, Oasis to Freaky Friday – the ’90s and ’00s are back in full rotation. Trends recycle. But retail? Not everyone gets a sequel. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)

CBS via Getty Images

The high street has seen many goodbyes in recent years, but this one feels different. For anyone who came of age in the 1990s or early 2000s, Claire’s was not just a shop. It was a rite of passage, the first ear piercing, the first pair of sunglasses you didn’t have to borrow, the first accessory chosen with a friend rather than a parent. It was bright, busy, and unapologetically brimming with sparkle.

Now, as administrators pick through the fate of more than 300 UK stores and over 2,100 jobs, the doors remain open for now, but online orders have been halted and the future of the brand on British high streets hangs in the balance.

Buyers are being sought, yet closures are likely. The irony is hard to miss: the very aesthetic that built Claire’s, the chokers, butterfly clips, glitter hair gel, and jelly handbags all everywhere again. Gen Z is styling it for TikTok. Gen Alpha is buying into it for the first time. And while mall culture may be fading, for tweens the physical store is still a vital space, a place to be, to go, to claim a little patch of identity in the real world.

The Tween Kingdom of the 90’s

In the 1990s, Claire’s didn’t just ride trends, it set them. By the middle of the decade, it had more than 1,000 global stores, record-breaking sales, and a grip on the tween imagination that was the envy of retail. Saturday afternoons weren’t complete without a browse through the racks, the smell of fresh plastic packaging, and the soundtrack of pop hits piped over tinny speakers. The store was its own theatre: overflowing displays of hair clips and necklaces that could turn pocket money into possibility.

And yet, the magic of those moments hasn’t always translated for today’s young shoppers and I’ve seen the disconnect first-hand. As a parent of three, I remember taking my eldest daughter, then nine, into Claire’s for what should have been a treat. She had saved her pocket money and, after a long, happy browse, settled on two items. That’s when the assistant leaned over with the offer: “If you buy another, you get three free.”

For a nine-year-old, it sounded like magic: more treasures to take home, more excitement. But the spell didn’t last. We’d already spent thirty minutes choosing the first two; another half hour passed in agonising indecision over the rest, my husband sat head in hands, on a bench outside the store. By the time we left, the moment had lost its joy. What began as an exercise in independence and self-expression had become a pressured, exhausting chore. She never asked to go back. For a brand that says it is built for “girls, teens, and tweens,” the in-store experience hadn’t spoken to her at all.

The nostalgia boom of the past few years has proved that the aesthetic itself isn’t the problem. TikTok has made butterfly clips and chunky rings cool again. Fashion has shown how to reframe the past: Juicy Couture reimagining velour, Urban Outfitters reinventing baggy jeans. But Claire’s seemed to look backwards without truly stepping forward.

A Digital Disconnect

Too often, the stores felt stuck in time, not in a charming retro way, but in a cluttered, overwhelming one. The joy of discovery, so essential for in-person shopping, was buried under racks crammed with too much of everything. Prices didn’t always feel like the impulse buys they once were, especially compared to competitors like Primark, Lovisa, Shein, and Temu, who could undercut and outpace them with alarming speed.

“Claire’s has lost its sparkle, but this isn’t just about cheap bling, not being your thing – it’s a piercing reminder that even legacy brands need to keep up with changing tastes and digital shifts. Simply being on the doorstep doesn’t compete and engage with a TikTok generation” explains Ed Watson, Founder of PREW PR and fashion commentator.

And while Claire’s boasts more than a million Instagram followers, its digital presence felt curiously disconnected from the physical experience. The feed’s glossy, curated look bore little resemblance to the reality in-store. The bridge between online inspiration and offline action, that crucial spark to make a young shopper actually visit, never quite materialised.

Behind the scenes, the financial picture was deteriorating. In the U.S., Claire’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August (the second in seven years). Debt from a 2018 restructuring lingered and mall traffic, especially in secondary locations, continued to decline.

Claire’s – A Cultural Loss?

The most frustrating part is that the core audience hasn’t gone anywhere. Tween retail remains one of the most socially driven demographics in the sector. It’s not just about the purchase, it’s about the destination. For my children (aged ranging 9 – 16) it is about walking in with friends, trying on something ridiculous, taking selfies and buying something small but significant – leaving with a sense of ownership over your style.

Claire’s had this in its DNA. It could have been the playground of the 2020s and a space for curated nostalgia drops, an elevated, shareable ear-piercing experience, and a chance for parents to relive their own tween years alongside their children. Instead, the sparkle dulled under too much stock, too little agility, and a failure to connect its online audience with the joy of being there in person.

If a buyer is found, the opportunity isn’t gone, but it will take more than a balance-sheet fix. It will take a brand willing to stop treating its past as a museum exhibit and start making it a living part of today’s culture. Because for the next generation of shoppers, nostalgia isn’t just a memory. It’s a mood. And moods, like trends, don’t wait around.