The Memo: Claire’s joins WHSmith in Modella’s newest portfolio addition

Chances are you received your first piercing at the high-street staple, Claire’s, back in the day. Claire’s enjoyed its heyday as one of the prime weekend shopping locations for tweens and teens alike across the world in the early 2000s. Fast forward to 2025, and the accessory store has filed for bankruptcy in the US for the second time in the past ten years. 

Claire's has 280 stores located across the UK and Ireland, so it was inevitable that sale and insolvency were on the cards. Now, more than half of its stores have been purchased in a rescue deal by private equity firm Modella Capital, the same investment firm that acquired WHSmith’s UK stores earlier this year. Modella lauds itself as a specialist retail and consumer investment boutique, with a portfolio currently consisting of WHSmith (now trading as TGJones) and Hobbycraft. 

Around 1,000 jobs will be secured under its newest acquisition, which looks to acquire more than half of the Claire’s stores situated within the UK and Ireland. However, for the remaining 145 stores excluded from the deal, the future remains uncertain. Whilst administrators consider their options, these stores will remain open and in trade. 

The acquisition of Claire’s involves the sale and purchase of its underlying assets to Modella, which includes the exclusive rights to the brand in the UK and Ireland. The deal has been brokered through acting administrator, Interpath, working in tandem with the brand’s US parent company, Ames Watson. Law firms experienced in M&A work involving retailers have advised Claire’s on this significant transaction and complex process of acquisition. 

The fashion accessory retailer follows a long line of businesses which have been victim to changes in consumer habits, furthering the whispered ‘death of the high-street’ that companies have been forced to reckon with in recent years. Businesses have had to compete with online retailers such as Amazon, as well as the increasingly popular marketplace provided via social media platform, TikTok. This, coupled with the uncertain US economy and $500 million loan that must be repaid by December 2026, resulted in Claire’s filing for bankruptcy.  

Other major retailers (such as River Island, Poundland and New Look) are under similar strain. With limited resources to keep operations running, emergency restructuring plans have been implemented, such as reducing workforces and closing stores.