Now where will I buy 20 pairs of earrings at once!?
It's a dark day for teens and tweens everywhere who have $15 of allowance money to spare and five different ear piercings — Claire's Accessories is planning to file for bankruptcy, and I'm officially Old.
Control of Claire's and affiliated brands will now pass from Apollo Global Management LLC to a series of bank lenders, so it's not set in stone that the store will start closing locations, but I'm not optimistic.
Ever since Limited Too went down, I've known that none of the relics of my preteen girlhood are immune to the ravages of capitalism.
I'll always remember browsing through racks of glittery costume jewelry, near-identical sets of rainbow stud earrings and flavored lip gloss while my mom, faintly concerned, stood near the register as Nelly's 'Hot in Herre' blared through the store's speakers.
Do you guys remember the way Claire's… smelled? Plastic-y, but in a good way? Do you remember the click of the piercing gun, the quick sting and the satisfaction of seeing your newly pierced ears leaking bright red blood?
I haven't stepped inside a Claire's since I got my third ear piercing — I got straight A's one quarter, even though I was taking AP Calc! — and now, honestly, I really wish I had.
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