Why Claire’s is making one of its biggest operational investments in decades

For about five decades, getting your ears pierced for the first time has meant a trip to the mall to Claire’s. Now, after more than 131 million piercings, the accessories retailer is giving the experience a Gen Alpha makeover.

Claire’s is rolling out a “reimagined” piercing experience across its ~900 stores in the US and Canada starting this month—one of the brand’s most significant operational investments in decades. The overhaul includes updated clinical standards and employee training, redesigned piercing areas, interactive “inspiration bars,” after care, and a variety of opportunities for young customers to document it all for social media.

“There really is a trend of Gen Alpha girls who are seeking these in real-life experiences, and you can’t get your ears pierced online,” Jillian Cueff, Claire’s chief merchandising officer, told Retail Brew. “There really isn’t a destination in the mall for this target consumer of Gen Alpha girls, and we want to set up this space to be like a playground for girlhood.”

Pier-ce pressure: Claire’s originally began the project by evaluating customer feedback about its existing piercing service, including reviews from parents. Per Carey Brezler, VP of retail operations, one thing was clear in looking at the reviews: “Frankly, it felt really dated,” she told Retail Brew.

Families coming to Claire’s were looking for more of a clinical environment, while younger customers wanted an experience that felt modern, interactive, and worthy of sharing with friends, Brezler explained.

It’s also what led the retailer to take a hard look at its piercing training program. According to the brand, its 13-person “Piercing Excellence Team,” which collectively has more than 140 years of piercing experience, travels across North America training store employees. The updated curriculum includes “hands-on instruction, digital learning, guided practice, mock scenarios, and recertification,” Brezler said. Stores are also using FDA-registered medical devices and medical trays as part of the effort to make piercing feel more clinical.

But that doesn’t mean Claire’s is going to become a full-on doctor’s office. The retailer has added inspiration bars where customers can experiment with different looks before getting pierced, alongside selfie mirrors, goody bags, piercing certificates, lollipops, and other elements.

“It’s not just enough anymore to say, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m here in this incredible moment that I’ll tell my friends about,’” Brezler said. “It’s, ‘How do I capture all of that, and when I’m sitting in the chair, does it feel like something that is social-worthy that I’m going to share?’”

The changes appear to be resonating. Brezler said reviews are up 800%, and 95.6% of reviews are now “five-star,” while negative reviews have declined 84%.

Stacking up: But piercing isn’t the only thing getting a makeover. Claire’s is also rethinking how merchandise is organized around what Cueff calls customers’ “shopping missions.”

Instead of categorizing jewelry as simply necklaces, bracelets, and earrings, for example, Claire’s has created a “Get Stacked” area bringing them together. Likewise, beauty and hair products are also merged with a “Get Glow” shopping mission.

Claire’s is also upgrading product quality while trying not to age out of its core customer. It recently introduced premium-plated brass jewelry and plans to continue upgrading materials across its assortment without changing its overall pricing philosophy. Designs are shifting, too, with icons like airplanes and book stacks joining some of the unicorns and rainbows traditionally associated with Claire’s.

Cueff explained that Claire’s has zeroed in on the 10-year-old girl as its target consumer, in part because that’s around the age when kids begin making more purchasing decisions.

“So many brands are pulling the customer up and aging them up and saying, ‘Use this product that your mother is using,’” Cueff said. “We really want to be the space where girls can celebrate girlhood and not age up and use items and products that are meant for them right now.”

She added that getting those customers into stores for a piercing could give Claire’s an opportunity to sell around it, as piercing is the “heartbeat” of Claire’s merchandising strategy.

“[The Claire’s customer] may not be able to get pierced every time she comes to the mall, but we want her to come back to Claire’s every time she comes in because we have her stuff,” Cueff said. “That’s what Claire’s was for us when we were growing up, and the opportunity to bring that to a new generation is just an amazing gift.”