Sears Canada Inc. was a publicly-traded Canadian company affiliated with the American-based Sears department store chain. In operation from 1952 until January 14, 2018, and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, the company began as Simpsons-Sears—a joint venture between the Canadian Simpsons department store chain and the American Sears chain—which operated a national mail order business and co-branded Simpsons-Sears stores modelled after those of Sears in the U.S. After the Hudson's Bay Company purchased Simpsons in 1978, the joint venture was dismantled and Hudson's Bay sold its shares in the joint venture to Sears; with Sears now fully owning the company, it was renamed Sears Canada Inc. in 1984. In 1999, Sears Canada acquired the remaining assets and locations of the historic Canadian chain Eaton's. From 2014, Sears Holdings owned a 10% share in the company. ESL Investments was the largest shareholder of Sears Canada.
Genesco Inc. is an American publicly owned specialty retailer of branded footwear and accessories and is a wholesaler of branded and licensed footwear based in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded as the Jarman Shoe Company in 1924 as a footwear manufacturer, the company changed its name to the General Shoe Company in 1931 and became a public company in 1939. The company took its current name, Genesco, in 1959. Genesco exited footwear manufacturing in 2002 and now contracts with independent, third parties located outside the United States to manufacture its branded and licensed footwear. In June 2011, Genesco acquired U.K. retail chain and web business Schuh, which gave them an already well-established grounding in a market outside of the U.S.
Roots Corporation is a publicly held Canadian brand that sells apparel, leather bags, small leather goods, footwear, athletic wear, and home furnishings. The company was founded in 1973 in Toronto, Ontario, by Michael Budman and Don Green. In 2015, Roots was sold to Searchlight Capital Partners LP, an American investment firm.
La Maison Simons, commonly known as Simons, is a fashion retailer in Canada, headquartered in Quebec City, Quebec. It is a family business currently operated by Richard and Peter Simons. The business was established in 1840 by the son of a Scottish immigrant to Quebec as a dry goods store. In the 1960s, the focus of the business changed to a department store, incorporating youth-oriented brands. Beginning in 1981, La Maison Simons began an expansion across Quebec. In 2012, the company expanded its business to the West Edmonton Mall in Alberta first, before opening several more stores across Canada. The success of the location at the West Edmonton Mall led to the company being sought out as a key anchor tenant at malls across Canada. Primarily a privately held firm, La Maison Simons received outside investment for the first time in its history in 2018 when it sought to open a distribution centre in Quebec City.
Holt, Renfrew & Co., Limited is a Canadian luxury department store chain founded in 1837 by William S. Henderson. The original William Ashton & Co. store in Quebec City, Lower Canada operated as a fur shop. The company serviced the greater North American and European markets with its mail order catalog beginning in the late 1800s, and was appointed Furriers in Ordinary to several members of the British royal family from 1886 to 1921.
Manuel "Manolo" Blahnik Rodríguez is a Spanish fashion designer and founder of the eponymous high-end shoe brand.
Charles David is an American fashion company known for their design of shoes, founded by David and Charles Malka.
Crocs, Inc. is an American footwear company based in Broomfield, Colorado, that manufactures and markets the Crocs brand of foam footwear. Crocs, Inc. term these "clogs", but they do not contain any wood like traditional clogs.
The ALDO Group branded and stylised as ALDO, is a Canadian multinational premium retailer specializing in shoes and accessories, established in 1972 in Montreal, Quebec. The company was founded by Aldo Bensadoun and its corporate headquarters are based in the Saint-Laurent, Quebec. A worldwide corporation, it has 3,000 stores across 100 countries. Stores in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., and Ireland are owned by the Group, while international stores are franchised.
Mikhaila "Coco" Rocha is a Canadian model. She is known as one of the first "digital" supermodels, and is known for her advocacy for younger models. As an author, she collaborated on the 2014 book Study of Pose. Rocha is also the founder of the Coco Rocha Model Camp and co-owner of the Nomad Management Modeling Agency.
White House Black Market is an American women's clothing retailer headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida. The multichannel brand, founded in 1985, specializes in upscale clothing.
La Senza Corporation is a Canadian fashion retailer that sells women's lingerie and intimate apparel. The La Senza brand is currently owned by Regent which operates and owns La Senza stores in Canada and the United States and uses a franchise model for the operation of stores outside Canada and the United States.
schuh is a Scottish footwear retailer based in Livingston, Scotland. It has 132 stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company is predominantly a branded shoe stockist, selling over 80 brands, including: Converse, Vans, UGG, Nike, Adidas as well as its own schuh label.
Caleres Inc. is an American footwear company that owns and operates a variety of footwear brands. Its headquarters is located in Clayton, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Founded in 1878 as Bryan, Brown & Company in St. Louis, it underwent several name changes; for a time, the Hamilton-Brown Shoe Company was the largest manufacturer of shoes in America. It went bankrupt in June 1939.
John Vincent "Vince" Camuto was an American women's footwear designer and shoe industry executive, best known for co-founding the women's fashion brand Nine West. Following the 1999 sale of Nine West to Jones Apparel Group for $900 million, Camuto became CEO and Chief Creative Officer of a new fashion company, Camuto Group, maker of the Jessica Simpson brand. On October 10, 2018, Vince Camuto was acquired by Authentic Brands Group, as part of the company's definitive agreement to purchase a majority stake in the intellectual property of the Camuto Group's proprietary brands in partnership with DSW Inc.
Ardene [arDɛN] is a family-owned value fashion retailer based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in the early 1980s, Ardene started as an accessories and jewelry retailer, and has since added clothing, shoes, brand collaborations and licensed apparel into its product mix.
Betts Group Pty Ltd is an Australian footwear retailer based in Perth. The head office is located at Level 2, 428 Scarborough Beach Rd, Osborne Park, Western Australia. Betts have been in the industry for over 125 years, and have recently expanded their operation to include the sale of shoes online. The Betts Group currently owns the brands Betts, Betts Kids, ZU, Airflex, Zeroe, Betts Brand Direct, Betts for Her. The organisation operates across all Australian states, and owns 67 stores in total.
Rack Room Shoes is an American footwear retailer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, which operates more than 500 stores in 36 states under the Rack Room Shoes and Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse brands.
Albert "Aldo" Bensadoun, is a Canadian billionaire businessman. He is the founder and executive chairman of Aldo, a retail shoe company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Bensadoun's family foundation donated $25 million to McGill University to help found the Bensadoun School of Retail Management.
Journeys is a specialty chain retailer, owned by Genesco, of branded fashion footwear and accessories with approximately 1,200 stores nationwide. Journeys operates five retail concepts across North America including Journeys, Journeys Kidz, Shi by Journeys, Underground by Journeys and Little Burgundy. Journeys is focused on "quickly shifting fashion footwear trends.", and is described as the anti-Foot Locker.
