It's Good News-Bad News For Buckland With Revised Claire's/Icing Imminent 'Closure' List

CONNECTICUT — The Manchester Icing store is one of three Connecticut locations in the mall-based Claire's/Icing teen accessories chain that have appeared on a revised "closing" list filed this week. The Claire's at the Shoppes at Buckland Hills is not.

The filing was presented by parent company Claire's Holdngs LLC in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware Monday.

Three three on the list were:

• Icing at the Shoppes at Buckland Hills in Manchester
• Claire's at the Crystal Mall in Waterford
• Claire's at Brass Mill Commons in Waterbury

A staffer at Claire's said the Manchester location is one of the "suffessful" locations staying open. A closing sale is upstairs at Icing, however.

In a survey of stores about a week-and-a-half ago., staffers at each Claire's (and the Manchester Icing store) said there had been minimal communications sent from the corporate side. Liquidation sales are underway at those designated for closure without a definite shuttering date.

Claire's and Icing have long been go-to locations for entry-level ear-piercing and teen accessories, but the company is struggling with a big debt accumulation and a shift in consumer habits to online shopping, according to Aug. 6 and Aug. 25 bankruptcy filings.

They marked the second bankruptcy filings for Claire's since 2018.

Claire's operates more than 2,750 stores in 17 countries throughout North America and Europe and 190 Icing stores in North America.

In a court filing, Claire's said its assets and liabilities range between $1 billion and $10 billion.
“This decision is difficult, but a necessary one,” Claire's CEO, Chris Cramer, said in an accompanying new release issued at the time of the filing. "Increased competition, consumer spending trends and the ongoing shift away from brick-and-mortar retail, in combination with our current debt obligations and macroeconomic factors, necessitate this course of action for Claire’s and its stakeholders."

Some Connecticut stores not on the revised list were having interim store closing sales and some were operating under "normal" conditions.

Aside from the three on the revised closing list, Claire's has locations in:

• Trumbull
• Danbury
• Milford
• Canton
• Farmington/West Hartford
• Manchester — Claire's is separate from the Icing store in the same mall.