Claire's Accessories : Tweenie/Teenie Paradise (Claire's)

Member Name: englishrose

Product:	Claire's
Date:	15/03/09 (206 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun, Fashionable, Pocket Money Prices

Disadvantages: None

Claire's Accessories is a chain of small stores across the UK which sells, well, accessories! It is THE shop to head for if you are a tweenie - (no, not Bella, Jake, Milo or Fizz) - or a teenager. Saying that, mums really love it in there too - they sell styles for all different age groups, from small children right through to grown-ups.

We visited Claire's yesterday, our group comprised two thirtysomething women, and three girls aged 6, 10 and 11. There was something for all of us to look at, and we had to drag ourselves away in the end :)

The prices are fabulous, everything is really affordable, even to those who have only got pocket money to spend: There is usually a sale/reduced section too, even better. You will be able to find something for under a pound, going right through to the more expensive items, for example silver jewellery, but nothing is out of reach - The most expensive things in there are probably handbags at around £20.00 at the maximum.

Basically the stock is all accessories - all types of jewellery, scarves, hats, gloves, bags, sunglasses, socks ......

This shop also sells cosmetics and a few gifts such as cuddly toys and notebooks, etc.

There are also dedicated sections , for example, yesterday when we went in there was a section entirely made up of Comic Relief merchandise where all the products sold would include a donation to Comic Relief.

Another example is the section that is reserved for the mighty High School Musical, and another for the Hello Kitty brand.

As well as types of accessories, Claire's is sub-divided by styles: Traditional classic jewellery styles, goth, emo, punk, girly, 1980's, all sit side by side, so there is something for you whatever your particular look.

Within each style or section, goods are arranged in colour groups, so overall this makes things really easy to find.

When you go in, the staff like to encourage you to have a basket , which are those folding circular ones, or sometimes they will give you a small hand-held wicker basket if you don't want to have a full sized one.
There always seem to be a lot of staff compared to the size of the shop.

The emphasis is on fun, fashionable items, so nothing is sold in Claire's that will last forever, but at those prices you don' t expect it to. However, everything that I have ever bought from there has been of good quality and has lasted me till now, at least!

Claire's offer ear-piercing too, the 11 year old that we visited with had her ears pierced there about 2 years ago and she rates it as a good experience. She was given full instructions on how to care for the piercings and some antiseptic lotion to apply, plus the earrings that she had chosen. The only downside for shy people might be that you have the ear-piercing done out on the shopfloor, with everyone watching!

(We did ask about nose piercing, but they only do ears: although they do sell nose/body jewellery/studs).

Between us, we eventually bought a pack of three small nail varnishes (approx £2.00) , some ladybird dressing-up wings (approx £10.00), a turquoise perspex ring with a flower set in it (approx £2.00) and a huge make-up kit with about 30 items of make-up in it (approx £8.00). All great, fun bargains.

Claire's accept all the usual methods of payment, and items with a receipt can be returned within 28 days for a refund, (of course that doesn't include pierced earrings for hygiene reasons) .

Overall: a fun fashionable shop with pocket money prices.

Summary: Cheap treats !