💥New Chapter 22 Bankruptcy Filing - Claire's Holdings LLC 💥
Another chapter 22, another retailer liquidation (probably)
On August 6, 2025, Hoffman Estates, IL-based Claire's Holdings LLC and 13 affiliates (collectively, the “debtors” and together with their non-debtor affiliates, “Claire’s”) filed chapter 22 bankruptcy cases in the District of Delaware (Judge Shannon).* No doubt, a lot of y’all remember these guys from your mall-filled youth … or their ‘18 bankruptcy (when PETITION was still in its infancy, 🥹) … or their opportunistic-but-failed ‘21 IPO.**
But on the extremely remote chance you’re not familiar, Claire’s is “… a global brand powerhouse …,” 😂, “… for self-expression, creating exclusive, curated, and fun fashionable jewelry and accessories” targeted at “… girls between the ages of 3 and 18 years old.”
And they pierce ears too – over 100mm lobes since ‘78, including Kirkland & Ellis LLP’s (“K&E”) own Josh Sussberg. That’s, lol, not a joke: K&E’s Alex Schwarzman made sure to mention it at the August 7, 2025 first day hearing.*** And Josh knew we’d follow suit, so he got ahead of it and sent Johnny a pic:
Claire’s offer its brands – Claire’s® and Icing®, which is aimed at an older 18-35 demo – through four business lines: (i) 2.3k global brick and mortars, including 210 “store-in-store” (“SiS”) locations inside Walmarts ($WMT), (ii) ~9k concessions, where folks like Walmart, Kohls Corp. ($KSS), and CVS Health Corp. ($CVS) are paid a commission on the sale of debtor goods, (iii) e-commerce, and (iv) ~230 franchises across Asia, Latin America, and EMEA.