Claire's France: two takeover bids approved by court, half of employees retained

The Paris Commercial Court approved two partial takeover bids for the Claire's brand in France on Friday. The company was placed in administration at the end of July, lawyers for the staff representatives told AFP on Monday.

The lawyers detailed that around 450 out of 830 employees will be taken on by two companies. The vast majority will be employed by costume jewellery retailer June, which has secured a ten-year licence to operate the Claire's brand. Around thirty employees will be taken on by the Spanish phone case retailer La Casa de las Carcasas.

A job protection plan (PSE) has already been initiated for the employees not included in the takeover, with redundancy looming for the vast majority of them.

June will also take over around 140 of Claire's approximately 240 existing points-of-sale. La Casa de las Carcasas will take over three stores to sell its phone accessories.

Of the stores not included in the takeover, some Claire's locations have already permanently closed.

The court opened administration proceedings for Claire's France at the end of July. The brand is primarily known for its trinkets, piercings and other accessories aimed at teenagers.

“The initial takeover proposals in early September were very low in terms of jobs saved,” Maître Eve Ouanson told AFP. “Today's bids, which have the merit of saving half the jobs, are the lesser of two evils.”

Management justified the administration proceedings by citing a continuous decline in in-store sales over several years. This decline was accelerated by US customs duties on Chinese products, which Claire's uses extensively.

However, according to the latest published accounts, Claire's France generated a net profit of 1.3 million euros between the end of 2023 and the end of 2024, and 0.8 million euros in the previous financial year.

The Claire's brand is not only facing difficulties in France. Its parent company in the US filed for bankruptcy in August before being acquired by an investment fund.

Claire's Spanish subsidiary also declared insolvency in September.

In early September, staff representatives reported facts to the court which they describe as “serious irregularities in the company's management”. They accused the US parent company of having “emptied the coffers” through “financial flows” between the group's numerous subsidiaries.

“There is still a lack of clarity surrounding these flows,” Me Khaled Meziani, who also acts as a lawyer for the staff representatives, told AFP.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

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