I was 17, studying for my A-levels in Great Yarmouth. Looking to defy my parents’ instruction to get a part-time job, I hit upon a cunning plan: why not apply to the shop least likely to require the services of a mopey teenage boy? That shop was Claire’s Accessories.
Little did I know at the time that Claire’s — home of plasticky tiaras and tinsel wigs — was a retail empire at the height of its power. Five decades after it had arrived in America, Claire’s commanded some 3,000 outlets across the world and was present in more than 95 per cent of American malls.
Its success had been built on one thing: ear-piercing. Having come of age during America’s ear-piercing craze (when earring manufacturers hired retired nurses to run piercing booths in suburban malls), Claire’s was the first retailer to bring the service into its fold.
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