ALDO was established in 1972 as a footwear concession within the Canadian fashion house Le Château. Founded by Aldo Bensadoun, the son of a shoe merchant and grandson of a cobbler, it is little surprise that the company soon became one of the industry’s leading names.
In 1978, ALDO opened its first standalone store in Montreal. Over the next two decades, the retailer expanded to many more locations across Canada. The early-2000s saw further growth with stores launching in Saudi Arabia, the UK and Singapore.
For many years, ALDO was best known for its FeetFirst line of footwear, which catered to older consumers. This changed in 2010 when the company launched its pioneering store concept, Lōcale. These boutique-style locations catered more for the young professional market, with ALDO footwear sold alongside many big-name brands.
More evolution followed when, in 2012, ALDO announced the ‘Call It Spring’ brand in collaboration with department store giant JCPenney. The partnership saw ALDO footwear on the shelves of more than 600 JCPenney stores throughout the US. Another big-name partnership, this time with Kohl’s, saw ALDO design and produce exclusive footwear products to be sold in hundreds more department stores across the country. Today, the ALDO Group’s 16,000 staff sell shoes, apparel and accessories from over 3,000 stores in more than 100 countries. The company generated revenues of over 1.7bn in 2022.
