American chain Claire’s has now officially filed for bankruptcy, although it only relates to the company’s American division.
154 European stores will disappear
The bankruptcy has been filed at a moment when Claire’s had a 1.9 billion dollar debt (1.5 billion euro). Thanks to the bankruptcy, it now hopes to restructure that debt and create an opening for a relaunch.
Even though only the company’s American division has been declared bankrupt, the other divisions will also be hit. It will lower the number of European stores from 1069 to 915 stores by 2022 and 74 should already close this year. The chain has about 100 stores in the Benelux, but it is not clear how many will disappear.
“We will complete this process as a healthier, more profitable company, which will position us to be an even stronger business partner for our suppliers, concessions partners, and franchisees”, CEO Ron Marshall said. The relaunch will normally be done by a couple of the company’s debtors as they will acquire the company from current owner Apollo Global Management, which paid more than 3 billion dollars in 2007.
