Piercing insights: how Claire’s is turning customer churn into a winning strategy (2025)

That’s the challenge Meghan Hurley, Claire’s vice-president of global marketing, faces, as she outlined to Neil Saunders of GlobalData during a talk at Shoptalk in Las Vegas.

The 50-year-old brand has a youth issue. Because while most brands spend years trying to hold on to customers, Claire’s has to replace its entire audience every few years. Its sweet spot? Girls, typically aged 8 to 13. The moment they grow out of glitter and piercings, the clock resets.

“We are still representing rites of passage – and that’s very important to kids,” said Hurley. “It’s your first piercing, it’s your first time buying friends a gift, it’s your first time shopping with your friends.”

That might sound simple, but it’s something most marketers would struggle to deliver once. Claire’s does it again and again.

And it’s working. Claire’s has more than 2,500 stores in 17 countries, including over 1,300 in North America and 750 in Europe. It’s quietly one of the biggest names in specialty retail – yet in markets such as the UK and France, many people are surprised to discover it’s an American company, headquartered in Illinois and owned by Elliott Investment Management. The business also has stores-in-stores at retailers such as Walmart, where it offers ear piercing – something no digital competitor will ever be able to replicate.

In fact, piercing may be Claire’s ultimate moat. “We’re the ‘I got my ears pierced at Claire’s’ brand,” Hurley said. “It’s one of those things that AI will never do online.”

But the real differentiator is Claire’s unmatched insight into Gen Alpha. While most of the industry is still preoccupied with Gen Z, Claire’s is already deep in the next wave – talking to them directly, involving them in product development and co-creating entire store concepts based on their feedback.

“They’re ready to give their opinions,” said Hurley. “They don’t see a stop and end where I feel like adults are like, ‘I shop on this device’ or ‘I shop in person.’ Their world is more immersive. It’s surrounding. It’s not digital or physical – it’s both.”

One of Claire’s current store formats, a bodega-style display called Mini Mart, was built from the ground up in collaboration with young shoppers. “They told us what they liked, what they didn’t like. They understand their value as consumers. They know what they’re doing.”

This feedback loop has also shaped the brand’s social strategy, where speed to trend is more important than long-term planning. “This is the summer of Dilly Dally,” Hurley joked. “Last year was Braid Summer. I’m a Dilly Dally-er, so I’m excited – this is my summer!”

In other words, this is not a business stuck in 2010-era mall nostalgia. This is a business built for cultural velocity.

Claire’s also shows how retail can still surprise people in person. “Our customers want to be in stores. They want to experience it. You’re getting your ears pierced there. You’re shopping with your friends. We have to figure out how to make the retail experience something people want – while still having a digital presence, too.”

It’s a reminder that the physical store still has a role to play – especially if it delivers something emotional, social and real. And Claire’s has proven that even with a short customer window, you can build something lasting.

So, what can marketers learn?

Claire’s operates in a category often dismissed as fluff. But behind the hair clips and shimmer lies a sharp commercial logic. Retailers and marketers facing stagnating growth or unpredictable Gen Z behaviors might want to take notes.

• Embrace churn: Claire’s doesn’t fear losing customers at 13; it designs the entire model around it.

• Stay physical: In a world chasing digital, piercing creates a tactile loyalty moment no TikTok trend can replicate.

• Act fast, act relevant: Ditch the two-year R&D plans and move at culture speed.

• Use your audience: Gen Alpha wants in – so let them shape the story.

Claire’s has quietly become one of the key brands for Gen Alpha, as it was for Gen Z and Millennials before them. Just don’t expect its customers to thank you – they think they discovered it themselves.

For marketers across categories, Claire’s offers an unexpected but compelling lesson: what if your customer churn isn’t a problem to fix but a feature to lean into?