Claire’s Accessories, the once beloved high street retailer with hundreds of stores around the world, has collapsed into administration – as you probably already know.

Started in the 1960s, it was once the default choice for piercings, jewellery and accessories. Today, it’s peripheral – so the news has hardly come as a surprise.

But in the typical fallout of such closures, one thing has struck me in the news coverage.

According to the CEO, it’s a result of customers moving online.

And while that may, broadly, be a factor, I have a strong suspicion it isn’t the decisive one. After all, it isn’t as if “online” is some new, disruptive threat.

I suspect the real reason Claire’s is disappearing is more fundamental and harder to reckon with for the business itself.

Claire’s is simply no longer relevant.

Look no further than Astrid & Miyu

The simplest way to understand what’s happening is to look at a piercing and jewellery brand that’s in good health.

Astrid & Miyu is the perfect example. It’s growing and will double revenue this year. And yet, one would assume, if Claire’s CEO is correct, Astrid & Miyu would focus entirely on online shoppers.

Currently it’s the exact opposite. Astrid & Miyu are fast becoming a store-focused business, with big plans to add to stores they’ve already opened in recent years across Europe.

It’s a familiar tale for anyone that genuinely examines what’s happening in retail. They started online, but soon started opening stores. Those stores were successful, and quickly they realised that they weren’t just additional sales channels but marketing channels, service channels – let’s face it, everything channels. Stores, they realised, weren’t just a useful way of growing: they were the primary way of growing.

Similar examples across UK, Europe and the US include Missoma, Studs, and perhaps most notably Mejuri, a retailer experiencing particularly rapid growth.

They’re all DTC retailers that are sometimes mistakenly seen as online businesses. But all are prioritising physical stores.

So to understand how Claire’s has become irrelevant, it’s worth diving a little deeper into what makes these businesses so relevant to modern shoppers.

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