Claire’s Holdings LLC, the mall-based jewelry and accessories chain popular with tweens and teens, has confirmed plans to shut 291 U.S. stores after filing for Chapter 11 protection on 6 August—its second bankruptcy in seven years. The closures cover 235 Claire’s locations and 56 outlets of its Icing brand and will occur on a rolling basis, with liquidation sales already under way at some sites. The downsizing comes even as the company has struck a deal to sell its North American operations to an affiliate of private holding company Ames Watson. Court documents show the buyer will pay $104 million in cash and issue a $36 million seller note in exchange for no fewer than 795 and potentially as many as 950 stores, along with their inventory. Ames Watson has pledged to retain nearly all store-level employees and a “significant number” of staff at Claire’s headquarters in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Claire’s operated roughly 2,750 stores worldwide before the latest restructuring, but has struggled with shifting consumer tastes, competition from online fast-fashion platforms and the cumulative impact of tariffs and higher interest rates. The company said the asset sale and store rationalization are aimed at preserving a scaled-down but profitable retail footprint. The transaction still requires approval from bankruptcy courts in both the United States and Canada.