Aldo: If the shoe fits, wear it.
Canadian shoe giant, Aldo Bensadoun, started his shoe empire in Montréal, Québec, in 1972. Four generations of Bensadouns have carried on the shoe trade to become an international success.
In 1972, armed with a thorough understanding of the shoe business and a deep desire to create high-quality shoes and accessories that were both stylish and affordable, Aldo Bensadoun founded his company, ALDO, in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Québec. His first store was a concession in Le Château. The first free-standing ALDO store opened in 1987 in Montréal.
The son of a Moroccan shoe retailer and grandson of an Algerian cobbler, Aldo had a passion and a dream to build
a company that would offer stylish, high quality and affordable
products and services to his customers.
Aldo learned Italian so he could communicate with his Italian suppliers. This allowed him to cut out the middleman between Canada and European manufacturers.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s,
ALDO stores opened across Canada.
In 1990, Aldo was ready to enter the US market, which he did in the small town of Plattsburg, New York, just an hour away from the ALDO Group headquarters in Saint-Laurent, Québec. This store was a testing ground for marketing and hiring as he geared up for a wider American launch.
In 1996, the company started the Feetf First banner which offers comfortable and stylish shoes for the older clientele. To serve the family market, the ALDO Group operates Globo Shoes.
In 2010, Lōcale, a footwear and accessories boutique, was introduced to replace Feet First stores. Aimed at young professionals, Lōcale offers a broad selection of brand names.
Pegabo, which used to be an independent chain of shoe stores, is now being sold in the Feet First and Lōcale stores.
In 2010, ALDO made the leap into the US market when they launched their Call it Spring brand in JCPenny stores across the United States. The shop-in-shop concept reached across 600 JCPenny stores by the fall of 2011.
What a year! In 2011, the ALDO Group partnered with Kohls department stores to design and produce distinctive footwear products that would be sold under private and exclusive brand names.
ALDO cares about the planet!
And, they’re doing something about it. ALDO stores no longer use single-use shopping bags. Their shoes can be carried home in an attractive shoebox with a carrying handle. The company expects to eliminate 7 million single-use shopping bags, globally, about 12,773 bags per store.
In September of 2018, ALDO became the first footwear and accessories company in the world to be certified climate neutral for its corporate stores, offices and distribution centres. The next logical step is to have all of its online deliveries and product transportation certified climate neutral.
Community involvement
The ALDO Group works with YouthAIDS, an education and prevention program of Population and Services International. The company has generated $3.5million in donations to date for South African AIDS prevention programs.
Gloria Sauvé
Communications and Marketing