Claire's Stores Names President

Claire's Stores Inc. (Chicago), a specialty retailer of fashionable accessories and jewelry at affordable prices for young women, teens, tweens and girls ages 3 to 27, has appointed Jay Friedman president of the North American division. He will report to ceo Gene Kahn.

In his position, Friedman will oversee the Claire's and Icing businesses and will have direct oversight of buying, planning and allocation, supply chain, stores and overall operations of approximately 2000 stores in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

“Claire's North America is our largest division and a key driver of our results. We are excited to have Jay join us and believe his recent experience in specialty retail as well as 25+ years in operating large-scale, multi-unit businesses will help propel our business toward achieving our long-term objectives,” says Kahn. “Jay's strong merchandising acumen, his product affinity, specialty store operations experience and broad background in several senior level positions make him ideally suited to lead Claire's North America and to actively participate in the continued development of our Icing brand.”

Friedman’s career includes stops at Macy's Inc., May Company and Dayton-Hudson Corporation, Footlocker USA and Etienne Aigner. He most recently served as president and ceo at Jones Retail Corp., Nine West Group.