MONTREAL — Struggling local high-end retailer Les Ailes de la Mode has sold its four remaining stores to the Fairweather Group of Toronto for $5 million.
Les Ailes said two weeks ago it was negotiating with the Toronto group headed by Isaac Benitah.
Formally called Les Boutiques San Francisco, Les Ailes once boasted 200 stores under nine banners, including Bikini Village, Frisco, West Coast and San Francisco. But an aggressive expansion in 2002, including taking over the former 225,000-square-foot Eaton department store here, forced the retailer to seek protection from creditors in December 2003 and to sell some of its banners.
It emerged from bankruptcy protection last year with only Les Ailes and its 50 Bikini Village stores, which are not part of the sale. Its name means “Wings of Fashion” in English.
It is expected that under Benitah’s ownership, Les Ailes, which had revenues of more than $63 million last year, will focus on a more down-scale market.