An entire generation of tweenagers could be missing out on a rite of passage: getting your ears pierced by a 20-year-old behind a Claire’s shop window, while your mum hovers nervously nearby, and you agonise which studs are worth your pocket money.
Claire’s – the glittery, purple hued accessory wonder emporium – has filed for bankruptcy in the US for the second time in seven years.
The retailer, which still has more than 2,700 stores globally, including in the UK, Spain and France, says a cocktail of factors are to blame including mounting debt, a slowdown in consumer spending, rising costs and tariffs, and the relentless shift from high street to online shopping.
Although US stores remain open for now, plans are already underway to close up to 1,300 in America alone.
But the slow demise of this once-ubiquitous tween mecca isn’t just about money, it also speaks to a sad cultural shift. The tweenage stage is shrinking, if not disappearing entirely.
These days, instead of hanging around Claire’s debating which rainbow spike earrings to buy with their pocket money, many pre-teens are skipping straight to Sephora.
They’re filling their baskets with £40 serums, retinol-infused eye creams and dermatologically approved facewashes – often before they’ve had their first breakout.
They’re known as the ‘Sephora Kids’ – members of Gen Alpha, born from 2010 onwards, and they’re a huge demographic.
In 2023, a report by data firm NielsenIQ showed that US households with six to 12-year-olds spent nearly $4.7 billion on beauty products – more than any other age bracket and 27% more on skincare than the previous year.
Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram have turbocharged the movement. They’ve turned beauty aisles into playgrounds for nine year olds.
Earlier this year, the LA Times interviewed 10-year-old Naiya White, a tweenage Skinfluencer who spends hundreds of dollars on products and posts reviews to her TikTok followers.
Rather than barbies and friendship bracelets, her wish lists include hyaluronic balms and $28 avocado cleansers.
She’s one of the growing number of children who speak fluently in skincare, sharing double cleansing methods on TikTok before they’ve even entered high school.
Type ‘get ready with me’ into TikTok’s search bar and you’ll find primary school age children filming elaborate 10-step nighttime routines, nestled between millions of similar posts from adults.
Parents might be shocked to see such young faces on the apps, but tweens are already firmly established in the digital world.
In the UK, there were an estimated 1.1 to 1.4 million children under 13 with TikTok accounts in 2020, despite the platform’s age restriction.
International studies show that 30% of children aged 5-7 use TikTok, and among kids aged 8–12 who do use social media, approximately 51% have their own TikTok profile, according to Ofcom.
For older generations, the contrast is striking. Millennials and Gen Xers regularly post online about how grateful they are to have grown up without social media, without the pressure of filming a morning routine for public viewing, or needing to justify why they opted for a £2.25 Simple cleanser rather than a £50 one.
Today’s kids will never know the thrill of walking out of Claire’s with a tiny bag of spare studs, ears throbbing slightly from the piercing guns and feeling like you’ve become a real teenager.
Claire’s bankruptcy is more than just a decline of bricks-and-mortar retail – it feels like the end of a whole generation of tweenagers.
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