Advertisement

Finance Lifestyle

Frank and Oak files for bankruptcy protection

Frank and Oak Toronto Queen West

As Canada’s apparel industry attempts to recover from the economic impact of the pandemic, another Canadian clothing retailer is seeking creditor protection.

On June 22, Modasuite, the parent company for Frank and Oak, filed a notice under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. KPMG has been appointed as a trustee.

Modasuite owed approximately $19 million to creditors, as of June 22.

Montreal’s Ethan Song and Hicham Ratani originally launched the men’s and women’s clothing company as an online business in 2012 but expanded by opening 19 physical locations in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and B.C., which includes four stores in Toronto.

Frank and Oak stores had reopened on June 1 with health measures in place, after being closed during the pandemic. The company reportedly has approximately 350 part-time and full-time employees.

After almost a century in business, Montreal-based Reitmans (Canada) announced in May that it would be filing for protection under Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.

Reitmans issued a news release on June 1 that announced its restructuring plans, which includes permanently shutting down 54 Thyme Maternity stores on July 18 and 77 Addition Elle stores on August 15, and reducing its workforce by about 1,400 employees.

This story originally appeared in the Georgia Straight.

@cinecraig

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.