Aldo Files for Bankruptcy Protection, Cites Deep Coronavirus Impact

The Aldo Group Inc. is the latest company to seek bankruptcy protection.

The Montreal-based retailer, founded in 1972, today announced that it has sought and obtained an initial order pursuant to the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act from the Superior Court of Québec.  Aldo said it has “voluntarily” filed for “similar protection” in the United States —  Chapter 15 bankruptcy — and is preparing to do the same in Switzerland.

“Aldo is one of the world’s leading fashion footwear and accessory brands with a solid track record of growth and profitability for almost half a century. It is no secret that the retail industry has experienced rapid and significant change over the last several years,” said Aldo Group CEO David Bensadoun. “We were making strong progress with the transformation of our business to tackle these challenges; however, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has put too much pressure on our business and our cash flows.”

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The company’s owned and operated stores are temporarily closed due to COVID-19 and will reopen in accordance with the guidelines set by health and local government officials. Its Aldo, Call It Spring and Globo websites will remain open throughout the bankruptcy proceedings.

“With our deep fashion footwear heritage, experienced leadership team, extensive omnichannel capabilities and loyal customer base, we firmly believe that we will emerge from the restructuring process and from the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. We will come out stronger and well-positioned to continue leading the way in fashion retail,” Bensadoun said.

Aldo is not the only retailer to fall into bankruptcy against the backdrop of the pandemic. Earlier today, Neiman Marcus Group announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 protection following weeks of speculation, joining J.Crew, which became the first major U.S. retailer to file for bankruptcy earlier this week. In recent weeks, a number of national chains have made headlines for reorganizing debt and liquidating properties, among them JCPenney and Lord + Taylor, the latter of which is reportedly planning to liquidate following pandemic.