What You Need to Know About SSENSE Filing for Bankruptcy

News of filing for bankruptcy protection recently broke, following events the company have described as an attempt by their creditors to force the sale of the Montreal-based global online retailer.

Founded in 2003 in Canada's Montreal by brothers Rami, Bassal and Fires Atallah, SSENSE are a cornerstone retailer of high-end luxury goods, streetwear, sneakers and accessories, and are renowned for their legendary end-of-season sales. Currently, the business is run by co-founder and Chief Executive Rami Atallah.

In a letter sent to employees viewed by The Business of Fashion, Atallah wrote that the company’s lenders want to put SSENSE up for sale under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act. The move is similar to bankruptcy protection, but allows the restructuring of finances. Atallah stated that Ssense will fight the sale, and instead file their own CCAA application in effort ‘to protect the company, keep control of our assets and operations, and fight for the future of the company’.

SSENSE were already experiencing a tough year thanks to the slowdown of consumers purchasing luxury goods, which resulted in the company laying off over 100 employees. Atallah attributes their more recent woes to the Trump trade policies, which have lumped Canadian goods with a 25 percent tariff when coming into the United States – as well as the nixing of the ‘de minimus’ execution, which allowed for parcels worth less than $800 to enter the USA duty free.

‘Recently, we have worked closely with financial and legal advisors to develop our own restructuring plan to stabilize the business and rebuild it for the future,’ Atallah added in the company memo. ‘The court will decide which path we follow, likely within the next week. Until then, our focus remains clear: protect value, stabilize the business, and set up a restructuring plan to secure our future.’

Currently, SSENSE is set to remain operating as normal, and will continue to pay their employee's salaries. Their webstore and its gargantuan retail offering is still online and functioning to routine.

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