MIAMI — Claire’s, a generational first-stop for ear piercings since the 1970s, has entered its “glown up” era.

Call it a reimagined piercing experience: redesigned, less cluttered and sleeker, more focused, piercing stations. New training for the piercing professionals. Trending merch mixed with traditional stuff like brass studs and hoops.

And a concerted effort to tap social media to find Claire’s target audience — the Gen Alphas, ages 6 to 14. Selfie mirrors! Social media!

“Ultimately, we wanted to take everything our consumers loved about Claire’s original piercing experience and modernize it for today’s Claire’s Girls, making it more personal, more shareable, and more interactive,” Jillian Cueff, Claire’s chief merchandising officer, said in an email interview with the Miami Herald.

The rebranding comes after last summer when Claire’s closed 290 stores nationwide, including a dozen in Florida such as its Cutler Bay, Miami’s River Landing and Hollywood locations. Aventura Mall’s Claire’s also closed.

The company emerged from bankruptcy, sold to private equity firm Ames Watson, and is altering the way its 900 remaining standalone stores, from a peak 3,400 in 2012, reach the Alphas.

Last Friday, Dadeland Mall’s store was the first Miami-area location to get its “glow up.” Town Center at Boca Raton opens its redesigned Claire’s this Friday, Sept. 18.

The first store to get the new iteration nationwide was Claire’s Santa Anita, California, location in early August, Forbes reported.

“We spoke with our consumers and heard two things really clearly: Parents wanted reassurance and expertise, while our Claire’s Girls wanted more choice, personalization and an experience that felt exciting enough to share,” Cueff said.

That means new training and safety standards for its piercers in newly designed, less cluttered, piercing studios at its standalone stores, and planned kiosks and pop-ups through partnerships with Walmart, CVS and Kohl’s. Claire’s will use FDA-registered hand-pressurized medical devices instead of the old “gun” that affixed the starter earring.

A customer can expect more consultation time through one-on-one chats with a piercing specialist before a procedure starts. They may ponder earring metal type, style and pricing. As for pricing, Claire’s is holding pricing steady. Piercings remain free with a starter kit that starts at $29.99.

New “Inspiration Bars” show different placement and styling choices. There are try-on sticks to preview stud sizes before committing to a piercing, and post-piercing aftercare tips, too.

Claire’s has been around a long time, long before interactive tools like viral social media strategies, influencers, and terms like “Inspiration Bars” existed.

Claire’s can trace its origins to 1961 to wigs retailer Fashion Tress Industries in Chicago, and through an acquisition of a company named Claire’s Boutiques that brought in jewelry and fashion items, the Claire’s that generations know took the Claire’s name in 1973. Piercing services were added in 1978.

Claire’s first filed for bankruptcy in 2018 and the concession era — stores-within-stores — began around that time as mall foot traffic started declining.

“As we entered Claire’s new era, we saw an opportunity to build on our existing piercing program which has been trusted for decades and make it even more rigorous, consistent and reflective of what Gen Alpha and their parents expect,” Cueff said. “A big part of that was making sure our people had the training and tools to deliver that experience consistently, which is why every piercing specialist across our fleet went through updated training.”What’s ‘All Glown Up’ mean?

In with selfie mirrors — hot with young influencers, TikTokkers and Instagrammers — and out with the trinkets, cheap cosmetics, novelty toys and hair accessories. These items are moved away from the core piercing focus areas of the new Claire’s.

“Right off the bat you’ll notice two things: First, all unrelated products have been cleared from the service area, giving the piercing specialist and the consumer a dedicated area for piercing,” Cueff said.

Also, Claire’s is branding around a new “Lilith” color scheme, rather than its former deeper blue color image. That’s because Gen Alpha said it preferred the softer lavender shade, according to Cueff. “These were both intentional to make our piercing service feel like a distinct moment within our stores.”

An Inspiration Bar lets customers visualize their ear stack. They can experiment with hand-held, clear try-on sticks to map their placements. Groom and snap posts in the selfie mirrors. Afix butterfly clips to hold back their hair. Manipulate squishies and fidget sticks to use as a de-stressor. Collect bakery-style boxes for their purchases.

You can also get an inside look at the brand’s store reimagining evolution through “All Glown Up,” a new six-episode series starring teen creators Txunamy Ortiz and Caitlin Kim. The series follows the two Claire’s Girls as they react to new collections, explore the new piercing experience and share their “unfiltered perspectives” on what the new Claire’s should look and feel like, while inviting their fellow Gen Alphas to do the same, according to the company.

On the second episode Caitlin’s dad gets his ears pierced for the first time.

“Dad, are you nervous?” Caitlin asks.

“A little bit,” he says. He’s handed a cushy squishie toy to clutch and squeeze. A de-stressor.

They cheer after the earring is placed.

“So grateful we got to share this moment together,” Caitlin posted on the Instagram clip.South Florida’s other Claire’s stores

Claire’s hasn’t announced when some of its remaining 15 South Florida locations will get the full glow-up experience. These include stores at The Falls, Dolphin Mall, Miami International Mall, Kendall Village Center, Westland Mall, Bayside Marketplace, Sawgrass Mills, Broward Mall, Coral Square Mall and Pembroke Lakes Mall.

Claire’s outlets as stores-within-a-store don’t offer piercing but do sell trend-forward Claire’s brand merchandise like cosmetics, hair accessories and jewelry. These have been a part of the earlier Claire’s strategy for several years and the new rebranded company isn’t giving up on these partnerships.

Many Walmart Supercenters already incorporate Claire’s merchandise. So does CVS. The Kohl’s store at Kendall’s Palms at Town and Country strip center, for instance, has Claire’s merch.

“Our core consumers are Gen Alpha ages 6 to 14. That said, we’re firm believers that girlhood isn’t limited to an age range. It’s a shared experience accessible to everyone, from Gen Alpha to their moms, aunts, and even grandmothers who grew up getting pierced at Claire’s,” Cueff said. “Gen Alpha may be the first digitally native generation, but they still value discovery, connection and spending time with their friends ... and we see a real opportunity for Claire’s to be that place for them.”

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