“Who you gonna go to when you need pink octopus earrings, Justin Bieber wallpapers, Hello Kitty phone cases, and flower headbands?”

“Not Claire’s!”

Many customers will no longer be able to purchase pink, sparkly, and everything tween at the accessory store, Claire’s, because it will be closing down multiple stores across the country. According to the Business Insider, the company accumulated $2 billion in debt, yet through a reconstruction plan, the company will be able to reduce the amount by $1.9 billion. The bankruptcy the store filed for can mostly be contributed to the reduced foot traffic in malls. In this digital age, many people only come to the mall to get a good pretzel, as they only need the click of a button to order clothes and accessories they would find at the mall. These lower numbers damage the sales of the tween store, especially because malls are their central location.  

Many millennial and 2000s babies can describe Claire’s as the rite of passage into young adulthood. When I had my ears re-pierced, I anxiously waited in a chair at Claire’s for a twenty-something year old employee with a couple of weeks of experience to shoot a piercing gun through my ears, as did my sister, mom, and many of my other friends. Whenever I went to the mall, I only ever skipped going inside Claire’s if I had spent all of my money. To simply say that the closing of these stores is heartbreaking would not be accurate enough. The joys and expensive treasures I found within the walls of the store is an experience I hoped my sister would enjoy too. Sure, the store was expensive for my preadolescence budget, and sure, the accessories I bought from there broke after a month of me using them, but I did not care. After a while, regardless of the quality, going to Claire’s was simply habitual, like brushing my teeth every morning. Yet, with time running out before the next Claire’s closes, the only logical option is to stock up on everything pink before it runs out.

This information is provided by the Business Insider Online.