CLE Claires Stores

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla., Jan. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Claire's Stores, Inc. (NYSE:CLE) today reported that for the five weeks ended December 30, 2006 comparable store sales were flat compared to last December, when comparable store sales rose four percent. Total sales during the five-week period ended December 30, 2006 increased seven percent to $247,836,000 compared with $231,454,000 for the comparable five-week period last year. Comparable store sales results for December 2006 compared to December 2005 were as follows: -- Claire's North America: positive low single digits -- Claire's International: negative low single digits -- Icing by Claire's: negative low single digits Please note that our comparable store sales numbers are calculated in local currencies. Total sales numbers give effect to the impact of foreign exchange. Bonnie Schaefer and Marla Schaefer, Co-Chairmen and Co-CEO's jointly stated that, "The pattern of deferred holiday shopping that we have seen for the past few years continued in full force this year. Across the board, business picked up materially during the last two weeks of the month, as shoppers continued to wait until the final moments to complete their shopping. Furthermore, the increased purchase of gift cards continues the already-established trend of pushing December sales into future months. New spring merchandise is beginning to flow into our stores and we think the fresh and broad color assortment will be well received by our customers." CLAIRE'S STORES, INC. (Monthly Sales in 000's) TOTAL COMP. STORE REPORTING PERIOD FY 2007 FY 2006 CHANGE CHANGE February $90,939 $88,139 3% 4% March $116,666 $119,692 -3% -3% April $104,251 $94,877 10% 9% May $102,562 $94,593 8% 4% June $132,514 $124,336 7% 2% July $114,049 $106,113 7% 2% August $116,774 $110,728 5% 1% September $125,508 $116,366 8% 1% October $105,221 $100,165 5% -1% November $110,278 $101,433 9% 0% December $247,836 $231,454 7% 0% Year-to-Date $1,366,598 $1,287,896 6% 1% Company Overview Claire's Stores, Inc. is a leading international specialty retailer offering value-priced costume jewelry and accessories to fashion-aware tweens, teens and young adult females through its two store concepts: Claire's and Icing by Claire's. While the latter operates only in North America, Claire's operates internationally. As of December 30, 2006, Claire's Stores, Inc. operated approximately 3,000 stores in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Holland and Belgium. Claire's Stores, Inc. operates through its subsidiary, Claire's Nippon, Co., Ltd., approximately 195 stores in Japan as a 50:50 joint venture with AEON, Co., Ltd. (fka JUSCO, Co. Ltd.), a $40 billion specialty retailer headquartered in Japan. The Company also licenses approximately 115 stores in the Middle East and Turkey under a licensing and merchandising agreement with Al Shaya Co., Ltd. and eight stores in South Africa under similar agreements with The House of Busby Limited. 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: changes in consumer preferences and consumer spending for pre-teen, teen and young adult apparel and accessories; competition; general economic conditions such as inflation and increased energy costs; general and political social conditions such as war, political unrest and terrorism; natural disasters or severe weather events; currency fluctuations and exchange rate adjustments; changes in laws; uncertainties generally associated with the specialty retailing business; disruptions in our supply of inventory; inability to increase comparable store sales at recent historical rates; inability to design and implement new information systems; delays in anticipated store openings or renovations; and uncertainty that definitive financial results may differ from preliminary financial results due to, among other things, final GAAP adjustments. 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 28, 2006. 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: Note: Other Claire's Stores, Inc. press releases, a corporate profile and most recent 10-K and 10-Q reports are available via Claire's corporate website: http://www.clairestores.com/. For information about our products and stores, please go to http://www.claires.com/. DATASOURCE: Claire's Stores, Inc. CONTACT: Marisa F. Jacobs, Esq., Vice President of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations of Claire's Stores, Inc., +1-212-594-3127, Fax: +1-212-244-4237, or Web site: http://www.clairestores.com/ http://www.claires.com/ Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/174913.html

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