Claire’s Nears Bankruptcy, Reshuffles Stores Away From Malls
Claire’s may be the latest in a series of retailers to declare bankruptcy.
The accessories chain has been struggling with an estimated $2B in debt for a number of months, but is also working to tackle the issue of visibility in its mall locations, Bloomberg reports.
While Claire's has made efforts to rebrand, the initiative has done little to lower its debt load, which is more than 10 times the amount of its annual earnings, according to Bloomberg. This is due in part to Claire's stores being largely in malls across America — many of which are coping with shuttering retailers and declining foot traffic. In an effort to expand its reach and improve profits, Claire's has inked deals with Giant Eagle and drugstores such as CVS.
If plans to enter bankruptcy protection succeed, control of Claire’s approximately 3,000 stores would change hands from Apollo Global Management LLC to its lenders, Elliott Capital Management and Monarch Alternative Capital, Bloomberg reports.
