Claire's Stores UK subsidiary will open its 500th store in Belgium next month....
Claire's Stores UK subsidiary will open its 500th store in Belgium next month.

The retailer will open the 800 sq ft (75 sq m) store split over two floors in Oostende at the Oostende Feest and Cultuupaleis scheme on April 5.

A Claire's spokesperson said: 'Claire's first arrived in the UK in 1996 and continued its expansion with Austria, Switzerland, Germany, France and Ireland. Our historical approach to expansion throughout Europe consisted of purchasing a retail chain and converting the acquired stores to our own format, introducing our merchandise and best practices and then adding stores in the country of the acquisition. However, two years ago we began our first foray into what is now four different European countries without completing an acquisition. Belgium, of course, is one of those four countries, along with the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal.'

The UK subsidiary operates stores in the UK, Eire, Netherlands and Belgium. Parent company Claire's Stores has around 3,300 shops globally.

Private equity firm Apax is thought to be the frontrunner to buy Claire's Stores.

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