To hate Claire’s Accessories

[RumbleStrutt]

Special day for DD so she was allowed small amount of pocket money to spend in Claire’s. As soon as we get in there I immediately want to leave. Most of it is utter tat; ugly, overpriced environmental disaster that will end up in landfill. I can cope with some of the headbands and scrunchies but just hate the in-shop experience.

Manager gleefully reminds us it’s “buy 3 get 3 free” (what kind of economics is that?!). I’m thinking please don’t want 3 things as then I’ll have to stay here whilst you choose another 3 and have 6 items of crap in my house.

Luckily she only wanted 2 that were reasonable choices so we go to pay. Manager says I can do these 3 for 2 so choose something else if you like (very nice of her) so that takes another 5 mins.

Go to pay and asked for email address. I say just print the receipt it’s ok. Manager excitedly tells me all the coupons I’ll get and how her friend got £50 worth of stuff for £17. She meant well but I’m wanting to literally run out of the door at this point.

It’s nice seeing some of the groups of slightly older girls shopping together and having fun but I just can’t stand it and have boycotted Smiggle for a similar reason.

Anyone else?

My nearly 5 year old daughter discovered Claire's last week. "Mummy, look at this magical amazing shop." I wept inside!

I still buy hair clips, scrunchies and magnetic earrings in Claire's😂 I have to firmly control my inner 8 year old though, otherwise I'd end up spending ££ on ALL THE SHINY !

I also hate it, it's not the stuff it sells, just because of the prices! I hate the thought of DD spending her precious birthday money on absolute rip offs 🙈

They've replaced an aisle of clothing in my local asda with Claires accessories now which I think was a rubbish idea. The store isnt in a very privileged area and I doubt most people can afford £6 for a scrunchie (including me!)

Accessorise? As teenagers once we knew Accessorise existed, we never went to Claire's. It's more expensive but surely that's how you learn the difference between quality goods ideally (and things that you will keep and treasure rather than chuck in the bin).

DD seems to be an innate snob so fortunately never liked Claire's stuff anyway.

That buy 3 get 3 free got me one day when it still came to £18 for some hair bobbles that will be lost or broken! Never again!

It's crap but dc love it. I use the 3+3 offer to get duplicates for giving as class birthday presents. Buying the same/ same price things means you don't loose out on savings

Haven't rtft but has anyone mentioned Liz Truss yet? 😁

Now how did I know somebody so precious would pick up on an old saying 🙄

Someone alert the Queen! The crown jewels must be extremely hazardous 😂

My DD loves it. So do her friends. They’ve a lot of cutesy stuff.

I’ve some cute earrings from there too.
She’s not even at secondary yet but she’d never get sucked in by the 3 for three nonsense, unless she goes with her friends snd get two things each.

I don’t think yabu. I doubt their target market is mums, really.

This thread has turned rather vulgar. It was all going well until certain folk started demeaning retail jobs. Typical middle class snobbishness.

You're not supposed to like it, you're an adult.

Yes, get to the bland jewellery like a proper grown-up.

Apparently it's taboo to say it, but I'm an adult who doesn't work for Claire's and is not Liz Truss and I like Claire's. They do fun colourful pieces that you can't really get anywhere else on the high street. Accessorize is more formal, and high street clothes shops aren't particularly inventive and just go with the flow. Very basic. But there's always something interesting to try on at Claire's.

Their pricing can be nuts for some items but the 3 For 3 is a decent option for bulk buying new pieces.

Don't get the snobbery 🤷‍♀️

I used to work at Claire's back in the early noughties.

We were monitored and scored on the following;

Approaching every customer and saying hello
Offering everyone a basket (this was also to reduce theft)
At the till offering everyone an 'add on'

If a mystery shopper came by and you hadn't done these three things... well, your manager would not be happy.

A lot of what the manager did, was required of her by the company.

This really is such nonsense. As I charity shop volunteer I handle a LOT of second hand jewellery (and am still living).

Not all charity shop jewellery is vintage. In fact, most isn't. Most is fashion jewellery bought in high street shops to go with particular outfits, and passed on when fashions change or the original owner doesn't want that outfit any more. Or bought in the sale and never worn.

I would always advise anyone buying earrings to clean them carefully before wearing - either dunk them in something like Milton or Dettol, or put in boiling water. If you are particularly concerned about strings of beads being "safe" then I daresay some soapy water will clean them up.

People have such weird ideas about second hand.

They put a child drag queen on their advertising. A little boy who the barest level of research would have shown was being touted around adult venues and "performing" a drag act while men threw money at him. A little boy who is on video miming doing drugs, sat next to an adult male drag queen who has done time for violent crime. Claire's can fuck off.

I just read that link about it the piercing and just some things from my experience of piercing at Claire's

1. there were 2 types of 'gun' used. One (the old style that was being phased out) which shot a sharp stud and the other which acted like a needle being out through the lobe

2. the studs were sharp not blunt

3. they were extra long to allow for swelling with special backs that meant the sharp end didn't hurt you while healing

4. it took weeks to be trained, not hours. We had to go through loads of theory work, practice on dummies and fake ears, supervised piercings etc. my own ears have tons of piercings from being a dummy for others

5. they are regulated by the council and licences

6. hygiene was part of the training and all earrings are sterile. The 'gun' never touches either the ear, person or earring

7. piercing studs were made out of surgical steel or gold

Yup future landfill.

I get twitchy at how expensive Claire's and Smiggle is. The dc love it, but I just can't hand over £30 to £50 for a few bits of plastic and glitter. Give me Tiger any day of the week. 3 candles, an oversized pencil, Rubix cube, flamingo lamp and a blow up unicorn for £12.50, geddon!

Such snobby attitudes!
i don’t particularly like it but I can see how much excitement it brings to my girls. We hardly ever go in so when we do it is a big treat. They love spending ages walking around and deciding and that’s part of the fun. I’d hate to take the joy out of a treat like that just don’t go in the first place.

As for being critical of the member of staff, I think you need to remind yourself it’s her job!

When you go into Claire’s they say it is buy three, get three free. Then when you get to the till they say it is only their own branded stuff.

I dislike Claire's as I find them overpriced and for their ear piercing guns.

But couldn't you go to a different shop while they go into Claire's?

I hate Claire's but then it's not aimed at me. My 9 year old granddaughter loves it so when I'm out with her, I fix a smile on my face and try not to let her get anything too tacky that her mum won't like ( although her mum liked Claire's when she was young.

Even as a kid I always thought Claire's was overpriced compared to say New Look

The only thing I will say is that I was impressed that the Claire's local to me donates all their out of season jewellery to the British Heart Foundation charity shop

We have 2 in the city where I live, the one in the city centre is shocking, cramped, messy, the staff don't care, just stand behind the counter on their phone's, chatting and ignoring you unless you approach.
The second store is in a large tesco extra site and it's totally different, nowhere near as cramped, better selection of options, friendly staff who greet you and talk to you.
I'm not their target market at 30, however, they have a few nice bits, and I admit I was sucked in by the buy 3 get 6 deal last week and got some flower tipped Bobby grips for my hair and some nice claw grips too.

I find it's the type of shop you need to know or at least have an idea of what you want, you can't browse or you'll be overwhelmed.