Bankruptcy of Claire’s Belgium: a hundred threatened employment

The Clear’s Belgium costume jewelry chain announced its bankruptcy to its employees during an extraordinary works council held on Tuesday, reports Belga. A hundred workers are directly concerned, told Belga Noëlle Pelanis, permanent secretary of the CGSLB, confirming information from RTL-TVI.

According to the trade unionist, the confession of bankruptcy was deposited in the court of the company. Belgian stores will however remain open pending the decisions of the curator. The CGSLB stresses that some employees are still awaiting their salary in July and claims guarantees on the payment of wages due, transparency on the financial situation and respect for the rights of each during the procedure.

Crisis in the group

All the Claire’s shops in Belgium belong directly to the parent company, without a franchise. “These are people who invest day after day to maintain the brand afloat and who are now found in total uncertainty,” says Noëlle Pelanis.

Belgian bankruptcy is part of a context of broader difficulties for the group. Last week, Claire’s Holdings had placed her American activities and several subsidiaries, some of which operating under the signs Claire’s and Icing, under the protection of chapter 11 of the American bankruptcy law. In July, the French subsidiary was placed in receivership.

Chris Cramer, CEO of the group since June 2024, had explained that the decision was “difficult but necessary” due to increased competition, the evolution of consumer spending, the drop in frequentation of street trade, accumulated debts and macroeconomic factors.

The Claire’s group operates more than 2,750 stores in North America and Europe, as well as 190 ICING stores in North America, and has more than 300 franchise points in the Middle East and South Africa. Its products are also sold in thousands of concessions around the world.