ALDO Group

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Aldo Group

Type	Private
Genre	Retailer
Founded	Montreal, Quebec
Founder(s)	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 is a Canadian corporation that 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 owned by the Group while international stores are franchised. 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).The Aldo Group controls about 25% of the Canadian shoe market, and is in third place behind Wal-Mart and Payless, respectively^[1]. The number of employees at Aldo has increased tremendously, and presently employs over 15,000 people with 4,000 of those employees in Quebec.

On March 13, 2012 the Aldo Group has signed on with Madonna to produce the Truth or Dare line. This footwear will be found starting in August 2012, at Macy’s, Nordstrom, Selfridges, ASOS.com, The Bay, Little Burgundy and Capezio.^[2]

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. Aldo Bensadoun known today as a global shoe giant built his empire starting in Montreal. After four generations, the Bensadoun family continues into the shoe industry. “Mr. Bensadoun never intended to follow in the footsteps of his father, a shoe retailer in Morocco and France, or his grandfather, a cobbler in Algeria” (Strauss, 2010)^[3]. Aldo Bensadoun learnt Italian to better communicate with his suppliers in Italy, and eventually he cut out the middleman who serviced him between Canada and European manufacturers (Strauss, 2010)^[4].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. Entering in the US market was going to be a challenge, this was a market were many Canadian companies failed to prosper. “It opened one store in 1990 in the decidedly unfashionable border town of Plattsburgh, N.Y., a mere hour's drive from Aldo headquarters. The store served as a lab where Aldo tested its logistics, marketing and hiring in preparation for a broader American assault”according to Kuncharsky (2002)^[5]. 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,^[6] and by the end of 2011, the company will operate more than 600 franchises in 63 countries around the world.

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 to an older clientele. Additionally the company operates "Globo Shoes" geared towards the family market.^[7] 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.^[8]

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 and accessories boutique-style concept store aimed at young professionals; it offers a number of brand names.^[9] 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.^[10]

Also during 2010, the company made major announcements which have led 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.^[11] 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.^[12] 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.^[13][14]

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.”^{[citation needed]} 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.

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.^{[citation needed]}

Aldo + YouthAIDS

Aldo partners annually with YouthAIDS, an education and prevention program of PSI using media, pop culture, music, theater, and sports to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.^[15] According to Aldo's website, the company introduces fundraising products annually for the program, and has generated $3.5 million in donations to date.^[16]The program was launched in 2005 with a celebrity advertising campaign^[17] created by the New York agency Kraftworks NYC.^[18]

Location

According to its official website, Aldo has presence in close to 70 countries and territories.^[19]

v t e High-heeled footwear Shoes Court shoe · Mule Gibson shoe · Slingback shoe · D'Orsay-back shoe · Peep-toe shoe · Boots Ballet boot · Beatle boots · Cowboy boot · Fashion boot · Kinky boots · Knee-high boots · Platform boots · Thigh-length boots · Winklepickers Types of heel Kitten heel · Spool heel · Stiletto heel  · Clear heels  · Wedge heel People and brands ALDO · Manolo Blahnik · Jimmy Choo · Kenneth Cole · Patrick Cox · Terry de Havilland · Cole Haan · Salvatore Ferragamo · Maud Frizon · Hush Puppies · Charles Jourdan · Beth Levine · Christian Louboutin · Steve Madden · Bruno Magli · Nine West · Beatrix Ong · Prada · Sergio Rossi · Yotam Solomon · United Nude · Roger Vivier · Stuart Weitzman · Giuseppe Zanotti

References

External links

• [1]
• AldoShoes.com WP:MOSCAP