Aldo (brand)

ALDO Group
Company type	Private
Genre	Retailer
Founded	Montreal, Quebec
Founder	Aldo Bensadoun
Headquarters	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Réjean Dionne, president; David Bensadoun, group VP, Aldo Global Retail; Norman Jaskolka, group VP, Aldo Group International
Products	Shoes
Divisions	ALDO/ALDO Accessories, Call It Spring/Spring, Lōcale/Feetfirst, Globo, Little Burgundy
Website	http://www.aldoshoes.com

The ALDO Group owns and operates a worldwide chain of shoe and accessory stores. The company was founded by Aldo Bensadoun in Montreal, Quebec, in 1972 where its corporate headquarters remain today. It has grown to become a worldwide corporation, with nearly 1600 stores under 5 retail banners: ALDO, Call It Spring/Spring, Lōcale/Feetfirst, Globo and Little Burgundy. There are also ALDO Accessories, ALDO Outlet, ALDO Liquidation, Spring Liquidation, and clearance stores. Stores in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland are corporately owned while international stores are franchises. The company once operated the now closed or re-branded banners Simard & Voyer, Christian Shoes, Access, Pegabo, Transit, Stoneridge, and FIRST (Which was the American version of Feetfirst).

History

ALDO shoes was founded in Canada in 1972 as a footwear concession within Le Chateau. The original group included stores in Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, and Winnipeg. The first freestanding ALDO store was opened in Montreal, in 1978. The brand expanded in the 1980s and 1990s, with stores operating under the name ALDO across Canada. The first international ALDO store opened in the United States in 1993 in Boston, Massachusetts. The first store outside of North America opened in Israel in 1995. The brand expanded in the 2000s into Saudi Arabia in 2001, England in 2002, and Singapore in 2003. Since then, the ALDO Group, with the ALDO and Call It Spring/Spring banners, has further expanded on the international market, ^[1] and by the end of 2011, the company will operate more than 600 franchises in 63 countries around the world.

The group has started other brands as well. In 1991, the company launched the Transit banner in Canada, which later became Spring upon launching in the U.S. Five years later, they started the Feetfirst banner which caters a more mature clientele. Additionally the company operates Globo Shoes geared towards the family market.^[2] In 2008, the company began to re-brand some of its Stoneridge stores as Little Burgundy stores. The new Little Burgundy stores carry brand name footwear and accessories from over seventy designers.^[3]

In 2010 the company once again began to evolve when it introduced, in Canada, a new store concept called Lōcale, which will replace the current Feetfirst stores. Lōcale is a footwear & accessories boutique-style concept store that celebrates fashion, art & community. Aimed at young professionals who seek both quality and stylish footwear, it offers a number of brand names.^[4] The company has also revived the Pegabo brand which used to be its own chain of stores and is currently selling the brand in Feetfirst and Lōcale stores. In Spring 2011, the Pegabo brand also launched at The Bay stores in Canada.^[5]

Also during 2010, the company made major announcements which have lead to major expansion in the American market. The ALDO Group and JCPenney announced the launch of the Call It Spring brand which will sell as a shop-in-shop concept in JCPenney stores across the United States.^[6] The Call It Spring concept is expected to be in 600 JCPenney stores by the fall of 2011 and JCPenney will be the only department store retailer of the brand.^[7] The ALDO Group also announced that it is partnering with Kohls department stores to design and produce exclusive footwear products which will be sold under private and exclusive brand names. The new ALDO-designed products will launch in Kohls stores for the Spring 2011 season.^[8]^[9]

ALDO aims to target customers on the street, because Aldo Bensadoun is “a strong believer that fashion starts on the street with political and economic events happening in the world.” Mr. Bensadoun also said in a rare interview: “Our strength is to adapt. As the customer is changing, we’re adapting to the new face of the customer.” Mr. Bensadoun built his global empire by constantly re-inventing his privately held company. Nobody is quicker at adjusting shoe styles, retail concepts and factory sourcing to suit the demands of fickle, fashion-obsessed customers. Today, the ALDO Group sources about 60 per cent of its products in China. It also has shoes made in other Asian centres as well as in Brazil, Eastern Europe and Italy. Being able to switch quickly to a factory with the capability to produce is an advantage in an industry where success depends upon getting the latest fashions on the shelf within weeks.

Charity work

The ALDO Group is well known for its commitment to society. The company places a premium on being a good corporate citizen by working to enrich the communities in which we live and work.

Over the years, the ALDO Group has supported many vital philanthropic causes such as Youth Aids, an organization working to help stop the spread of HIV/Aids especially among young people, War Child Canada in support of war affected children around the world, The Cure Foundation for breast cancer research and awareness and Leave out Violence (L.O.V.E), a Montreal based not-for-profit youth organization dedicated to educating and empowering teens affected by violence, to name a few.

Moreover, the company’s involvement in the Montreal community, home of its international headquarters, has remained a crucial part of the ALDO Group’s identity. The company and its team members frequently participate in fundraisers and volunteer their time to community projects. In fact, the company has participated in many philanthropic projects with the Jewish General Hospital, Montreal Children’s Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital, as well as the Montreal Heart Institute, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Canadian Cancer Society, Centraide and McGill University.

Giving back to communities is an essential part of the work that the ALDO Group does everyday.

ALDO Next Step

In 2008, the company launched its Next Step program aimed at going green and becoming more environmentally friendly. The first step of the program was to launch a new shoe box design that incorporated a handle into the box, eliminating the need for customers to use a bag to take their purchases home. The company also changed the bags that it does use to be made from wood-free paper.