Le Chateau is coming back from the dead but there's an ironic catch
It was a sad, nostalgic day for Canadian teens of the oughties and moderns fans of chic business attire two years ago when Le Château officially bit the dust after more than 60 years in business.
The Montreal-based retailer, known as the place to go for prom dresses (or literally anything stylish) in small cities across the country, announced in October of 2020 that it had filed for bankruptcy protection.
It subsequently liquidated all inventory from its remaining 123 stores and shut down forever. Or so we thought.
Like Forever 21 before it, Le Château recently sold all of its branding, signage and some merchandise to another company.
This time around, that company is Suzy Shier, a women's fashion retailer that is itself owned by Toronto's own YM Inc., the continuously-expanding fast fashion empire that owns such other mall staples as Stitches, Sirens, Urban Planet, Bluenotes and West 49.
Now, according to Le Château's former website and Instagram profile, the brand is coming back "soon... and better than ever."
Shoppers disappointed with the newfangled YM-owned version of F21 in Canada may be skeptical about the "better than ever" part, but the "soon" part is bang on: The ghost of Le Château announced Friday morning that its wares would be available for sale online once again beginning in less than two weeks, on Nov. 16.
It looks like fans will also be able to buy Le Château dresses in person beginning early next year.
While the brand hasn't announced anything formally yet, aside from teasing a "holiday glamour capsule" collection, Retail Insider reported this week that Le Château is set to relaunch in stores this upcoming spring.
The weird part is that there won't actually be any Le Château stores: Rather, you'll be able to buy merchandise from the brand inside Suzy Shier.
Former teen mall rats can certainly appreciate the irony of Le Château — once an incredibly popular store — being relegated to a small section of one of its former, less fashionable competitors' retail spaces.
Le Château items will be "available in-person in select Suzy Shier stores in Canada," according to Retail Insider, in 2022. It is not yet known if Suzy Shier (also owned by YM Inc.) plans to launch any standalone Le Château locations in the future, but I, for one, certainly hope so.
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