{"id":422635,"date":"2026-04-29T01:58:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T01:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/422635\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T01:58:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T01:58:18","slug":"i-dont-think-its-catering-towards-todays-kids-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/422635\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I don\u2019t think it\u2019s catering towards today\u2019s kids\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Students Sophie Ward and Sophie O\u2019Brien, shopping on Henry Street on Tuesday, both fondly remember their first purchases from the fashion accessories retailer Claire\u2019s<\/a> which targeted a \u201ctween\u201d girl demographic. <\/p>\n

Claire\u2019s arrived in Ireland in the 1990s and previously had a popular outlet in the Ilac Centre<\/a>. The few remaining branches still operating in the Republic have now closed.<\/p>\n

For Ward, her first Claire\u2019s purchase was the \u201cmake-up phone\u201d, a lipstick palette which came in the shape of a flip phone, and had a mirror where the mobile phone screen would normally be. <\/p>\n

\u201cI got clip-on earrings in there when I was a kid as well because I didn\u2019t get my ears pierced till I was a bit older,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien remembers the \u201cplushies\u201d [soft toys] as well getting her ears pierced there. The friends attend the Techological University of Dublin (TUD).<\/p>\n

Ward, who comes from Swords, says that she believes the target demographic of kids and tweens has moved on from what Claire\u2019s has been offering. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is targeted towards kids, but then a lot of what\u2019s in there is not kid\u2019s stuff. They\u2019re more into wearing real make-up and skincare and all that kind of thing, but Claire\u2019s never really got to that point of what is trendy nowadays.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all the same kind of stuff that they had when we were kids, and I don\u2019t think it\u2019s catering towards today\u2019s kids.\u201d <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Claire\u2019s closes all of its remaining Irish storesOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien agrees: \u201cKids have kind of aged out of that phase of wearing fake make-up\u201d. The Glasnevin native also believes that the market has become more competitive. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like a lot has come up to replace it, like Lovisa [jewellery retail chain]. I feel like it\u2019s not that big a gap in the market,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

Walking down a bustling Henry Street on Tuesday afternoon, Dubliner Christine Orford is enjoying an ice cream while window shopping.<\/p>\n

Orford, like many young women across Ireland, remembers how popular the ear piercing service was in Claire\u2019s, where it would be often be performed in the shop window of the store.<\/p>\n

\"ChristineChristine Orford <\/p>\n

\u201cMy first memory of Claire\u2019s Accessories was really wanting to get my ears pierced when I was in sixth class going into first year [of secondary school], but my mam wouldn\u2019t let me do it.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a bit of a nightmare because I was really, really sad about it but she was right because I still don\u2019t have my ears pierced even now. So I didn\u2019t need my ears pierced to fit in,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t play a big role in my life any more but I say a lot of smaller people will be sad to see Claire\u2019s go. Is it a sign that people are buying things online more?\u201d she asks. <\/p>\n

Fiona O\u2019Connor, from Stonybatter, although not a regular Claire\u2019s customer has bought gifts for her nieces and nephews there, is disappointed to see another shop leave the high streets of Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sad to see any retail leave the city centre,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think having a good variety of shops in the city centre gives people a reason to come in, makes it vibrant and it creates jobs. So I am sorry from that point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Mary Colquhoun is not sad to see the chain go as she believes that is was \u201cvery expensive anyway\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think you can get the same things elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FionaFiona O’Connor <\/p>\n

Quantity surveying student Isabelle Callinan is also a Claire\u2019s ear piercing alumni, and is one of those who will \u201c100 per cent\u201d miss the shop, as she has fond memories of going there as a child. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was my first experience buying jewellery and leaning into my femininity and growing up and wanting to match mam,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a shame. If it is gone, little girls won\u2019t have that same experience of going in and buying your first hairband and rings and necklaces.\u201d<\/p>\n

The retailer\u2019s administrators Kroll this week confirmed that the company\u2019s remaining 154 stores across Britain and Ireland had closed with immediate effect. Around 1,300 employees have been made redundant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Students Sophie Ward and Sophie O\u2019Brien, shopping on Henry Street on Tuesday, both fondly remember their first purchases…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422636,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,615,61,63131,60],"class_list":["post-422635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-dublin","tag-ie","tag-ilac-centre","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}