Le Tote was an online women's clothing rental business in the United States which used a

subscription box Subscription boxes are a recurring delivery of niche products as part of a marketing strategy and a method of product distribution. Subscription boxes are used by subscription-based ecommerce businesses, referred to as "subcom" for short, which ...

model. It was founded in 2012 by Brett Northart and Rakesh Tondon. In 2019, Le Tote acquired

Lord & Taylor Lord & Taylor was an American department store chain founded in 1826 by Samuel Lord. It had 86 full-line stores in the Northeastern United States at its peak in the 2000s, and 38 locations at the time of its liquidation in 2021. The Lord & Tay ...

. Le Tote was one of several companies renting women's clothes; competitors included Rent the Runway, The Ms. Collection, Gwynnie Bee, and Armarium. While Rent the Runway focuses more on high-end, "event-driven" clothes, Le Tote mainly rented "everyday wear." In late August 2019, Le Tote finalized an agreement with

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

to buy the

chain for C$99.5 million in cash on closing plus C$33.2 million two years later. HBC was to get a 25% equity stake in Le Tote. The buyer would retain the stores' inventory, with an estimated value of C$284.2 million. The deal required HBC to pay the stores' rent for at least three years, at an estimated C$77 million cash per year. On August 2, 2020, Le Tote and subsidiary of Le Tote,

filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection citing the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. They were purchased by the investment firm Saadia Group on October 20, 2020. Also in 2020, Le Tote sued

Urban Outfitters Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) is a multinational lifestyle retail corporation headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Operating in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, select Western European countries, Poland, the United Arab Em ...

over its clothing rental service, Nuuly. The lawsuit claimed that during negotiations for a proposed acquisition of Le Tote in 2019, Urban Outfitters received confidential business information from Le Tote, and used it in developing Nuuly. A trial in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania resulted in a unanimous jury verdict in favor of Urban Outfitters. As of March 1, 2024,

Women's Wear Daily ''Women's Wear Daily'' (also known as ''WWD'') is a fashion-industry trade journal often referred to as the "Bible of fashion". Horyn, Cathy"Breaking Fashion News With a Provocative Edge" ''The New York Times''. (August 20, 1999). It provides i ...

reported that the Saadia Group had been "effectively shut down. Moreover, legal proceedings involving its asset-based lender mean Saadia no longer has control of the inventory at its warehouses following a default on a $45.3 million loan agreement". The Le Tote website was taken offline in the spring of 2024, following months of consumer complaints about delayed shipments and difficulty cancelling the service. The final Archive.org snapshot is dated February 19, 2024.

References

* {{Authority control American companies established in 2012 Retail companies established in 2012 Internet properties established in 2012 Non-store retailing Companies based in San Francisco Subscription services Clothing rental companies Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020