Le Tote was one of several companies renting women's clothes; competitors included Rent the Runway, The Ms. Collection, Gwynnie Bee, and Armarium.[7] While Rent the Runway focuses more on high-end, "event-driven" clothes, Le Tote mainly rented "everyday wear."[8]
In late August 2019, Le Tote finalized an agreement with Hudson's Bay Company to buy the Lord & Taylor chain for C$99.5 million in cash on closing plus C$33.2 million two years later. HBC was to get a 25% equity stake in Le Tote.[9] The buyer would retain the stores' inventory, with an estimated value of C$284.2 million. The deal required HBC to pay the stores' rent for at least three years, at an estimated C$77 million cash per year.[10][11][12]
On August 2, 2020, Le Tote and subsidiary of Le Tote, Lord & Taylor filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection citing the COVID-19 pandemic. They were purchased by the investment firm Saadia Group on October 20, 2020. [13]
Also in 2020, Le Tote sued Urban Outfitters over its clothing rental service, Nuuly. The lawsuit claimed that during negotiations for a proposed acquisition of Le Tote in 2019, Urban Outfitters received confidential business information from Le Tote, and used it in developing Nuuly. A trial in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania resulted in a unanimous jury verdict in favor of Urban Outfitters.[14]
As of March 1, 2024, Women's Wear Daily reported that the Saadia Group had been "effectively shut down. Moreover, legal proceedings involving its asset-based lender mean Saadia no longer has control of the inventory at its warehouses following a default on a $45.3 million loan agreement".[15]
The Le Tote website was taken offline in the spring of 2024, following months of consumer complaints about delayed shipments and difficulty cancelling the service.[16] The final Archive.org snapshot is dated February 19, 2024.[17]
The Hudson's Bay Company is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, it became the largest and oldest corporation in Canada, before evolving into a major fashion retailer, operating retail stores across both the United States and Canada. The company's namesake business division is Hudson's Bay, commonly referred to as The Bay.
Saks Fifth Avenue is an American luxury brand associated with Saks, a luxury ecommerce platform, and SFA stores, a chain of high-end department stores in North America. Founded by Andrew Saks, it is headquartered in New York City. The original Saks opened in the F Street shopping district of Washington, D.C. in 1867. Saks expanded into Manhattan with its Herald Square store in 1902 and flagship store on Fifth Avenue in 1924. The chain was acquired by Tennessee-based Proffitt's, Inc. in 1998, and Saks, Inc. was acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 2013.
Zellers was a Canadian discount store chain founded by Walter P. Zeller in 1931. It was acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 1978, and after a series of acquisitions and expansions, peaked with 350 locations in 1999. However, fierce competition and an inability to adapt during the early stages of the retail apocalypse resulted in Zellers losing significant ground in the 2000s.
Hudson's Bay, also known as The Bay, is a Canadian department store chain. It is the flagship brand of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), the oldest and longest-surviving company in North America as well as one of the oldest and largest continuously operating companies in the world.
Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) is a multinational lifestyle retail corporation headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Operating in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, select Western European countries, Poland, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar, the Urban Outfitters brand targets young adults with a merchandise mix of women's and men's fashion apparel, footwear, beauty and wellness products, accessories, activewear and gear, and housewares, as well as music, primarily vinyl records and cassettes.
Lord & Taylor was the oldest-surviving department store chain in the United States. The company operated full-line department stores from 1826 until it filed for bankruptcy in 2020. The following year, in 2021, it closed all its brick-and-mortar stores. Saadia Group acquired the Lord & Taylor intellectual property and relaunched the e-commerce website later that same year. However, due to financial challenges, Saadia went into default in March 2024. In September 2024, Regal Brands Global acquired the Lord & Taylor intellectual property.
Fortunoff is a New York–based retailer of outdoor furniture and jewelry.
Hudson's Bay Rewards is a loyalty program where customers earn points for purchases at Hudson's Bay stores and thebay.com in Canada.
Vroom & Dreesmann (V&D) was a Dutch chain of department stores founded in 1887. It was declared bankrupt on 31 December 2015, although its branches were still in operation until 15 February 2016. On 16 February 2016, it was announced that takeover negotiations had not led to an agreement, ultimately resulting in the company's demise.
The Mayflower Mall is a single level shopping mall in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the only regional mall in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality of Nova Scotia, and the community's main destination for fashion shopping. The mall features a diverse anchor mix including Best Buy, Winners, Sport Chek, Michaels, Staples, and Hudson's Bay.
Hudson's Bay Trading Company, L.P. was an American portfolio company for NRDC Equity Partners, a private equity company. Hudson's Bay Trading Company was founded in 2008.
Gilt is an American online shopping launched in 2007. On January 7, 2016, The company was sold to Hudson's Bay Company for approximately $250 million. Prior to the Hudson's Bay acquisition, sales were exceeding growth projections but the firm had not been profitable yet. On June 4, 2018, Boston, Massachusetts-based Rue La La acquired Gilt from Hudson's Bay.
NRDC Equity Partners (NRDC) is an American private investment firm focused on retail, real estate, and consumer branded businesses.
Richard Alan Baker is an American business executive. He is the Governor, CEO, and Executive Chairman of Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and executive chairman of each of HBC's eight portfolio companies. He is also the owner of National Realty and Development Corp. (NRDC), a US-based private real estate development and investment company, and is the Chairman of the Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. (ROIC), a public real estate company.
Rent the Runway is an e-commerce platform that allows users to rent, subscribe, or buy designer apparel and accessories. It was founded by Jennifer Hyman and Jennifer Fleiss, who launched the company in November 2009.
Enterprise Holdings, Inc. is an American private holding company headquartered in Clayton, Missouri, in Greater St. Louis. It is the parent company of car rental agencies Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental, Alamo Rent a Car and also operates several other transportation services including commercial fleet management, used car sales, carsharing, and commercial truck rental operations.
Draper James is a clothing line launched by actress Reese Witherspoon, founded in 2015. A nod to Witherspoon’s Southern upbringing, the line aims to "emphasize [Witherspoon's] southern roots and personal style". The name is in honor of Witherspoon’s grandparents, Dorothea Draper and William James Witherspoon.
Mayhoola for Investments LLC or simply Mayhoola is an investment holding incorporated under the laws of the State of Qatar, and located in Doha, Qatar. The group is managed and owned by the Qatar royal family.
Tricon Residential is a Canadian real estate company. The company invests in single-family rental and multi-family rental homes, and owns about 31,000 properties across the United States and Canada. As of February 2021, the company had about $8.2 billion of assets under management.
SaksWorks is an American coworking space provider and sister brand to the Saks Fifth Avenue department store chain, both of which are based in New York City and owned by Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). The concept was conceived amid the COVID-19 pandemic to redevelop the former Lord & Taylor brick-and-mortar locations. The first SaksWorks facilities opened within the New York metropolitan area in September 2021.
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