Here’s which Claire’s, Icing stores are closing in New Mexico

For generations, Claire’s has been a shopping paradise for tweens and teens chasing their first ear piercings or bling for the new school year.

Today, several of its New Mexico stores are empty shells set to close for good.

The boutique retailer known for selling a wide variety of jewelry and fashion accessories is closing more than 290 stores, including over 50 Icing stores, as a result of a bankruptcy process that began earlier this month, according to a USA Today report.

In New Mexico, the stores closing are a Claire’s and an Icing inside Cottonwood Mall at 10000 Coors Bypass NW in Albuquerque; a Claire’s in the Roswell Mall at 4501 North Main in Roswell; and an Icing store inside Mesilla Valley Mall at 700 South Telshor in Las Cruces, according to a court document filed last week.

The closures leave one Claire’s space open inside Cottonwood Mall — the mall had two Claire’s and one Icing — along with all of the locations inside Coronado Center and one inside a Walmart Supercenter at 3500 Coors SW.

Claire’s CEO Chris Cramer said in a statement earlier this month that the decision to file for bankruptcy was a “difficult, but a necessary one.” The CEO cited increased competition, evolving consumer spending trends and an ongoing shift away from brick-and-mortar as contributing factors.

Emelina Hernandez, a part-time Claire’s manager at Cottonwood, confirmed that the Claire’s on the south end of the mall and the Icing near the food court have already closed.

The mall’s north-end Claire’s will stay open for now, but appeared empty on Friday as it had already gone through liquidation sales.

News of the bankruptcy and closures came as a surprise, Hernandez said, adding the mall’s Claire’s employees were suddenly out of a job before they learned one Claire’s space would remain open just days ago.

“We immediately were kind of thrust into what was happening and lost a lot of people,” Hernandez said. “And we weren’t given much help throughout the process. ... This whole thing kind of sucks.”

The list of stores closing comes a little over a week after Claire’s announced it had entered into an agreement with an affiliate of Ames Watson, a private equity investment firm, for the company to acquire some of the retailer’s North America stores.

For the stores included in the potential Ames Watson acquisition, liquidation processes have been paused, while the process will continue for stores not included, according to a news release.

The non-closing status of the rest of New Mexico’s Claire’s and Icing stores — which total nine stores, according to the list of non-closing stores in court documents — is subject to change. It is unclear what the closure timeline is for the currently closing stores outside of Albuquerque.