French jewellery entrepreneur in talks to rescue Claire’s

Claire’s could be rescued by a French jewellery entrepreneur following its entry into administration earlier this year.

According to The Times, Julien Jarjoura, the owner Claire’s business in Europe, is in talks with the retailer’s administrators and landlords about saving many of its 154 stores and potentially hundreds of jobs.

Jarjoura has taken control of Claire’s Austrian, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Swiss subsidiaries over the last 12 months after its US parent company entered bankruptcy proceedings. This gave him control of around 240 stores in Europe.

In January, Claire’s owner Modella Capital announced that the business would be put into administration, putting 1,350 jobs are at risk.

The company acquired Claire’s out of administration last September in a sale that included 156 Claire’s stores in the UK and Ireland.

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