s Aldo shoes were founded in Canada in 1972 as a footwear concession within
Le Château. 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). Aldo Bensadoun learned 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). 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 Spring banners, has further expanded on the international market. In 1991, the company launched the "Transit" banner in Canada, which later became "Spring" upon launching in the US. 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. 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. The Aldo Group also announced that it was partnering with
Kohl's department stores to design and produce exclusive footwear products that would be sold under private and exclusive brand names. The new Aldo-designed products were to launch in Kohl's stores for the Spring 2011 season. In 2017, Aldo Bensadoun's son David Bensadoun was appointed chief executive of Aldo, replacing Patrik Frisk. On 7 May 2020, Aldo announced it would restructure under the
Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act citing the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. All 6,680 store associates and more than half of the employees at its headquarters have been furloughed. In the midst of its restructuration, the company also move from its mythic headquarters to a nearby location in Saint-Laurent, Montreal. In July 2022, it announced that it had completed its restructuring process. The company once operated the now closed or rebranded banners Little Burgundy (which it sold to
Genesco), Simard & Voyer, Christian Shoes, Access, Pegabo, Transit, Stoneridge, Locale, Feetfirst and FIRST (which was the American version of Feetfirst). In January 2024,
Authentic Brands Group licensed its
Sperry brand to the Aldo Group for North American operations. Aldo already works closely with Authentic on brands like
Brooks Brothers and
Roxy. == Controversy ==