Claire’s Stores, Inc. Appoints Scott Huckins Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Oct. 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Claire's Stores, Inc. (the "Company"), one of the world's leading specialty retailers of fashionable jewelry and accessories for young women, teens, tweens, and kids, has announced today the appointment of Scott Huckins, as its Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

In his role as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Scott will serve as a key member of the Claire's Senior Management Team.  He will provide leadership to the global finance group to assume a broader role of trusted advisor and operating partnership. In addition, he will have responsibility for the External Financial Reporting, Loss Prevention, Audit and Compliance global functions. 

Ron Marshall, CEO commented, "Scott is a great addition to the Claire's team. In addition to his extensive capital markets background, Scott fits wonderfully into the new Claire's culture that, together, we are creating."

Scott joins Claire's from Sears Holdings where he served as Vice President, Treasurer and President for Sears Re, (a wholly owned captive reinsurance company) for the last four years. In that role, he had responsibility for global treasury, capital markets, credit, risk management and reinsurance for the company.  Prior to that role, he served as Vice President, Treasury, Tax and Investor Relations for RSC Holdings, Inc. where he was responsible for global treasury, capital markets, and credit, tax and investor relations activities.  Scott has also served in a variety of key executive roles while at Koch Industries for seven years including Chief Financial Officer for their Capital Markets Division as well as President and CEO for Koch Financial Products, LLC.

"I am excited to join a Company with a bright future and to be part of a management team that is committed to build on the strong base Claire's currently has," said Scott Huckins.

Scott will assume this role today, October 5, 2016 and will report to Ron Marshall, CEO of Claire's.

Company Overview

Claire's Stores, Inc. is one of the world's leading specialty retailers of fashionable jewelry and accessories for young women, teens, tweens and girls ages 3 to 35. The Company operates through its stores under two brand names: Claire's® and Icing®. As of July 30, 2016, Claire's Stores, Inc. operated 2,801 stores in 17 countries throughout North America and Europe, excluding 806 concession locations. The Company franchised 596 stores in 29 countries primarily located in the Middle East, Central and Southeast Asia, Central and South America, Southern Africa and Eastern Europe. More information regarding Claire's Stores is available on the Company's corporate website at www.clairestores.com.  

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" which represent the Company's expectations or beliefs with respect to future events.  Statements that are not historical are considered forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated.  Those factors include, without limitation: our level of indebtedness; general economic conditions; changes in consumer preferences and consumer spending; unwillingness of vendors and service providers to supply goods or services pursuant to historical customary credit arrangements; competition; general political and social conditions such as war, political unrest and terrorism; natural disasters or severe weather events; currency fluctuations and exchange rate adjustments; failure to maintain our favorable brand recognition; failure to successfully market our products through other channels, such as e-commerce; uncertainties generally associated with the specialty retailing business, such as decreases in mall traffic; disruptions in our supply of inventory; inability to increase same store sales; inability to renew, replace or enter into new store leases on favorable terms; increase in our cost of merchandise; significant increases in our merchandise markdowns; inability to grow our company-operated store base, expand our international store base through franchise or similar licensing arrangements or expand our store base through store concessions; inability to design and implement new information systems; data security breaches of confidential information or other cyber-attacks; delays in anticipated store openings or renovations; results from any future asset impairment analysis; changes in applicable laws, rules and regulations, including laws and regulations governing the sale of our products, particularly regulations relating to heavy metals and chemical content in our products; changes in anti-bribery laws; changes in employment laws, including laws relating to overtime pay, tax laws and import laws; product recalls; increases in the costs of healthcare for our employees; increases in the cost of labor; labor disputes; loss of key members of management; increases in the cost of borrowings; unavailability of additional debt or equity capital; and the impact of our substantial indebtedness on our operating income and our ability to grow. These and other applicable risks, cautionary statements and factors that could cause actual results to differ from the Company's forward-looking statements are included in the Company's filings with the SEC, specifically as described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 30, 2016 filed with the SEC on April 26, 2016. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. The historical results contained in this press release are not necessarily indicative of the future performance of the Company.

Additional Information

Other Claire's Stores, Inc. press releases, a corporate profile and the most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q reports are available on Claire's business website at: www.clairestores.com.

Contact Information

Ron Marshall, Chief Executive Officer 
Phone: (847) 765-1100, or E-mail, [email protected]

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SOURCE Claire's Stores, Inc.