Les Ailes de la Mode
Encyclopedia
Les Ailes de la mode is a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 retail store chain. Its flagship store is in downtown Montreal
Downtown Montreal
Downtown Montreal is the central business district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is nearly enitirely located at the southern most slope of Mount Royal and is approximately bounded by Sherbrooke Street to the north, Papineau Avenue to the east, Guy Street or until Shaughnessy Village to the west,...

 and is the anchor tenant of the Complexe Les Ailes.

As of 2011, Les Ailes de la Mode operates three stores in Quebec. Since 2007 Les Ailes de la Mode subleases a section of their stores to Bowring
Bowring Brothers
Bowring Brothers Limited is currently an operator of retail stores, mostly focused on gifts and home decor, throughout Canada....

. Since 2010 there is also a separate chain called "Les Ailes Xpress" , a smaller version of Les Ailes de la Mode.

Les Ailes de la Mode is based in North York, Ontario
North York, Ontario
North York is a dissolved municipality within the current city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it comprises the central part of the northern section of Toronto. As of the 2006 Census, it has a population of 635,370. The official 2001 census count was 608,288...

 alongside parent company Fairweather I.N.C Group. Prior to 2005, it was based in Boucherville, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 as part of the San Francisco Group.

Growth

Les Ailes de la Mode was founded in 1993 by Jean Delage Roberge as a division
Division (business)
A division of a business entity is a portion of that business that operates under a different name. It is the equivalent of a corporation or limited liability company obtaining a fictitious name or "doing business as" certificate and operating a business under that fictitious name...

 of its San Francisco women clothing chain. Les Ailes de la Mode derived from a magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

 of the same name that was founded in 1988 also by Jean Delage Roberge.

Les Ailes opened its first store in 1993 at Mail Champlain
Mail Champlain
Mail Champlain is a shopping mall located in Brossard, Quebec at the intersection of Taschereau Boulevard and Lapinière Boulevard...

 in Brossard
Brossard
Brossard is a suburban area, located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River, opposite the island and city of Montreal.Brossard is subdivided into many smaller sections. These sections are characterized by having street names that all begin with the same letter of the alphabet...

, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

. At the time, this store had two stories with a pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

 playing throughout the store. A restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...

 as well as a coffee shop
Coffeehouse
A coffeehouse or coffee shop is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages. It shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on...

 named Brulerie-les-Ailes were part of the Brossard store. This store also had a talking bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...

 in the kids section. The popularity of Les Ailes de la Mode inspired a IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...

 theatre that was opening up in the same mall in 1996 to call itself Imax Les Ailes.

In 1996, Les Ailes opened a 60000 square feet (5,574.2 m²) store at Carrefour Laval
Carrefour Laval
Carrefour Laval is a super regional mall located in Laval, Quebec, Canada at the intersection of the Laurentian Highway and Laval Freeway...

,in a space which occupied a Pascal hardware store five years ago.

The third Les Ailes store opened in 1997 at Place Sainte-Foy
Place Sainte-Foy
Place Sainte-Foy is an upscale shopping mall in the Sainte-Foy—Sillery borough of Quebec City. It is managed by Ivanhoe Cambridge, and owned in equal proportions by Ivanhoe Cambridge and Commerzbank AG....

 in Sainte-Foy, Quebec. As with the Brossard store, it had a 'Brulerie-les-Ailes as well as a Côté Jardin restaurant in the mezzanine
Mezzanine
Mezzanine may refer to:* Mezzanine , an intermediate floor between main floors of a building* Mezzanine, in technology, can refer to a thin sheet of plastic insulating different parts of circuitry from each other in cramped environments, such as laptop interiors* Mezzanine board, or daughterboard,...

. In this particular store, there was a small play area for kids.

In 2001, Les Ailes opened its fourth store in Bayshore Shopping Centre
Bayshore Shopping Centre
Bayshore Shopping Centre is a major shopping mall located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, more specifically in the former city of Nepean, Ontario. The mall is one of the busiest in the National Capital Region as it attracts about 7 million visitors per year from across the city and the surrounding...

 in Nepean, Ontario
Nepean, Ontario
- Recent quantity of snow :- History :Nepean Township, originally known as Township D, was established in 1792 and originally included what is now the central area of Ottawa west of the Rideau River. Jehiel Collins, from Vermont, is believed to have been the first person to settle in Nepean...

.

The long-awaited downtown Montreal
Downtown Montreal
Downtown Montreal is the central business district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is nearly enitirely located at the southern most slope of Mount Royal and is approximately bounded by Sherbrooke Street to the north, Papineau Avenue to the east, Guy Street or until Shaughnessy Village to the west,...

 flagship store of Les Ailes opened in August 7, 2002 in the former space of Eaton's department store
Eaton's
The T. Eaton Co. Limited was once Canada's largest department store retailer. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an Irish immigrant. Eaton's grew to become a retail and social institution in Canada, with stores across the country, buying offices across the globe, and a catalogue...

 which had been converted into a new shopping mall called Complexe Les Ailes and named after Les Ailes de la Mode. Upon its opening, the flagship store was 223,000 square meters spread on four floors which included a karaoke
Karaoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...

 (where Musique Plus would broadcast its television program Karaoclip ), an art gallery
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...

, a wedding registry service, a shoe waxing service, a vodka bar, many breast-feeding rooms, a carousel
Carousel
A carousel , or merry-go-round, is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders...

 and amusements in the kids section as well as many other attractions. The store had four restaurants: 1) Kouros Bar, a bar selling exclusively vodka 2) Kouros Tea Room, a tea bar 3) Stto Shushi Bar and 4) Kouros Restaurant, which offered tapas
Tapas
Tapas are a wide variety of appetizers, or snacks, in Spanish cuisine. They may be cold or warm ....

 and Mediterranean snacks. The downtown store employed 1 000 people.

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Les Ailes was its peak. In 1998, its stock
Stock
The capital stock of a business entity represents the original capital paid into or invested in the business by its founders. It serves as a security for the creditors of a business since it cannot be withdrawn to the detriment of the creditors...

 worth 54$. The company had its own foundation, la fondation Les Ailes, which raised funds for the health and education sectors. It participated in charity events and would annually draw a high-priced house called La maison de rêve Les Ailes. The foundation raised 1 600 000$ in 2002 for many established organizations. Shoe waxing, wedding registering and many other services were offered in Les Ailes de la Mode stores. During December of every year, the stores would dedicate a portion of their space as a Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 section where children would get to meet Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...

 in his kingdom.

Decline

Les Ailes de la Mode's problems began in 2003 as a direct result from the openings of the Bayshore and Montreal stores. The company's quick expansion was more than what it could afford to. The downtown Montreal store was particurarily too large for what the market could handle. The Bayshore store was closed down in 2003, less than two years after its opening. On January 2004, the size of the downtown Montreal store was reduced to 76,764 square feets with two floors only and roughly a third of its former size. But the damage had been done; Les Ailes never recovered from the troubles initiated by theses two stores.

The financial problems brought in by the failures of the Bayshore and Montreal stores were soon catching on the rest of the chain. La fondation Les Ailes and its programs were terminated. Projects to open new stores in Fairview Pointe-Claire
Fairview Pointe-Claire
Fairview Pointe-Claire, also called Fairview Centre , is one of the biggest super regional shopping malls on the island of Montreal with about spread on two levels of shopping space...

, Marche central and Lac-Mirabel
Lac-Mirabel
Lac-Mirabel is a super-regional mall currently under construction in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada. Construction began on January 29, 2008 for of shops, a luxury hotel, and various sports installations. The mall will be anchored by Bass Pro Shops, an outdoor equipment superstore, and a Sears Canada...

 were cancelled. Plans to expand in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

 and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 were also cancelled.

Les Ailes lack of performance eventually drove the whole San Francisco Group into bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

 in December 2003. After emerging from bankruptcy in July 2004, the San Francisco Group was renamed Groupe Les Ailes de la Mode. Following the restructuring, Les Ailes de la Mode department store became one of the two remaining divisions of Groupe Les Ailes de la Mode (the other division being Bikini Village).

Change of direction

In August 2005, Groupe Les Ailes de la Mode sold Les Ailes de la Mode stores to the Fairwheather Group, currently named Fairweather I.N.C Group. Fairwheather Group heavily modified the concept of Les Ailes from an upscale department store to a discount store. Les Ailes de la Mode magazine ceased publication. Les Ailes stopped selling prestigious apparel and cosmetic brands, including Hugo Boss
Hugo Boss
Hugo Ferdinand Boss was the founder of clothing company Hugo Boss.-Early life:Boss was born in Metzingen, Germany. After completing his apprenticeship and one year of employment, he founded his own company in Metzingen in 1923.-Support of Nazism:Boss joined the Nazi Party in 1931, two years before...

, Versace
Versace
Gianni Versace S.p.A. , usually referred to as Versace, is an Italian fashion label founded by Gianni Versace in 1978.The first Versace boutique was opened in Milan's Via della Spiga in 1978, and its popularity was immediate. Today, Versace is one of the world's leading international fashion houses...

, G-Star
G-Star
G-Star is an annual trade show for the computer and video games industry presented by KOTRA in November...

, Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana is an Italian luxury industry fashion house. The company was started by the Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana in Milan, Italy. By 2005 their turnover was €597 million....

, Tommy Hilfiger
Tommy Hilfiger
Thomas Jacob "Tommy" Hilfiger is an American fashion designer and founder of the premium lifestyle brand Tommy Hilfiger.-Early life:...

, Armani, Nautica
Nautica
Nautica is a US based apparel brand of the VF Corporation featuring primarily men's sportswear. Nautica was founded in 1983 by clothing designer, David Chu, and a partner. It was purchased for cash and stock in 1984 by State-O-Main, a New York based apparel company. State-O-Main changed its name to...

, Polo Ralph Lauren
Polo Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren Corporation is a luxury clothing and goods company of the American fashion designer Ralph Lauren. Ralph Lauren specializes in high-end casual/semi-formal wear for men and women, as well as accessories, fragrances, home and housewares...

, DKNY
DKNY
DKNY is a label of fashion designer Donna Karan. It is also the name of a clothing store in New York City featuring Donna Karan's associated line.-History:...

, Diesel, Jones New York, Calvin Klein
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968. In addition to clothing, Klein has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewelry....

, Guess, Lancôme
Lancôme
Lancôme Paris is a makeup brand. Owned by L'Oréal since 1964, Lancôme is part of the Luxury Products division, which offers skin care, fragrances, and makeup at higher-end prices....

, and Chanel
Chanel
Chanel S.A. is a French fashion house founded by the couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, well established in haute couture, specializing in luxury goods . She gained the name "Coco" while maintaining a career as a singer at a café in France...

.

Les Ailes now sells discount merchandise from the various store banners and in-house brands of parent company Fairweather I.N.C Group, including International Concepts, Stockhomme, Pinstripe, Fairweather, and Randy River. The brands are relatively unknown to Quebec consumers due to the absence of several of these store banners in Quebec retail, effectively rendering Les Ailes stores as outlets for all merchandise of Fairweather I.N.C Group. In-store restaurants and beauty salons all have been shut down, and the stores no longer sell cosmetics and pianos. Most checkout and fitting rooms are closed, leaving several of Les Ailes' shuttered sections unoccupied. The size of the downtown Montreal store has reduced so drastically that it now uses the corridor of the mall, Complexe Les Ailes, to display and sell merchandise. Les Ailes' return policy is now restricted to exchanges only.

The management of Carrefour Laval
Carrefour Laval
Carrefour Laval is a super regional mall located in Laval, Quebec, Canada at the intersection of the Laurentian Highway and Laval Freeway...

, having been unsatisfied with Les Ailes' new identity, decided not to continue the store lease upon expiry in February 2011, bringing the number of Les Ailes stores down to three. Les Ailes also experienced similar issues with the management of Complexe Les Ailes.

Les Ailes' warehouse is in Place Fleurs de Lys, Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

. It previously had warehouses at Centre Les Rivières, Trois-Rivières
Trois-Rivières
Trois-Rivières means three rivers in French and may refer to:in Canada*Trois-Rivières, the largest city in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada*Circuit Trois-Rivières, a racetrack in Trois-Rivières, Quebec...

 and in Place du Royaume, Chicoutimi.

Les Ailes Xpress

Les Ailes Xpress are boutique
Boutique
A boutique is a small shopping outlet, especially one that specializes in elite and fashionable items such as clothing and jewelry. The word is French for "shop", via Latin from Greek ἀποθήκη , "storehouse"....

s located in medium to large shopping centres that don't have a Les Ailes de la Mode department store. Les Ailes Xpress is an unisex
Unisex
Unisex stands for the meaning that either gender or sex will be able to, but can also be another term for gender-blindness.The term was coined in the 1962 and was used fairly informally...

 retailer and all of its goods are also sold in large Les Ailes de la Mode stores. Les Ailes Xpress shares the same logo as Les Ailes de la Mode , with the addition of the term "Express" underneath. The shopping bags at Les Ailes Xpress are also the same.

Fairweather I.N.C Group launched the "Les Ailes Xpress" brand by renaming its GLAM chain. GLAM was an acronym for Groupe Les Ailes de la Mode, the former parent company name of Les Ailes de la Mode, despite being operated by Fairweather. Prior to the rebranding of GLAM to Les Ailes Xpress, the chain was also named I&F. Fairweather I.N.C Group continues to use the I&F brand name in other provinces.

Department stores

  • Brossard
    Brossard
    Brossard is a suburban area, located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River, opposite the island and city of Montreal.Brossard is subdivided into many smaller sections. These sections are characterized by having street names that all begin with the same letter of the alphabet...

     - Mail Champlain
    Mail Champlain
    Mail Champlain is a shopping mall located in Brossard, Quebec at the intersection of Taschereau Boulevard and Lapinière Boulevard...

  • Montreal
    Montreal
    Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

     - Complexe Les Ailes
  • Quebec City
    Quebec City
    Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

     - Place Sainte-Foy
    Place Sainte-Foy
    Place Sainte-Foy is an upscale shopping mall in the Sainte-Foy—Sillery borough of Quebec City. It is managed by Ivanhoe Cambridge, and owned in equal proportions by Ivanhoe Cambridge and Commerzbank AG....


Boutiques (Les Ailes Xpress)

  • Brossard
    Brossard
    Brossard is a suburban area, located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River, opposite the island and city of Montreal.Brossard is subdivided into many smaller sections. These sections are characterized by having street names that all begin with the same letter of the alphabet...

     - Quartier DIX30
    Quartier DIX30
    Quartier DIX30 is a commercial lifestyle centre located in Brossard, Quebec. It is considered as Canada's first lifestyle centre and occupies an area of in the L section of Brossard. Quartier DIX30 was designed to emulate an urban or downtown shopping experience with boutiques and to meet the...

  • Joliette - Galeries Joliette
  • Montreal
    Montreal
    Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

     - Carrefour Angrignon
    Carrefour Angrignon
    Carrefour Angrignon is a Canadian shopping centre in the Montreal borough of LaSalle in Quebec. Popular stores include Sears, Zellers, Staples, Sears Home, Best Buy, Maxi and Famous Players. There is also a food court, located between Sears and Famous Players. Free outdoor customer parking is...

    , Place Versailles
    Place Versailles
    Place Versailles is a super regional mall located at the corner of Sherbrooke Street East and Highway 25 in the Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. At more than and with 225 stores, it is the largest shopping centre on the island of Montreal and the largest...

    , Place Vertu
    Place Vertu
    Place Vertu is a Canadian shopping centre in the Montreal borough of Saint-Laurent in Quebec. It is located on Cote-Vertu boulevard, corner of Cavendish Boulevard....

  • Pointe-Claire - Fairview Pointe-Claire
    Fairview Pointe-Claire
    Fairview Pointe-Claire, also called Fairview Centre , is one of the biggest super regional shopping malls on the island of Montreal with about spread on two levels of shopping space...

  • Quebec City
    Quebec City
    Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

     - Promenades Beauport
  • Trois-Rivières
    Trois-Rivières
    Trois-Rivières means three rivers in French and may refer to:in Canada*Trois-Rivières, the largest city in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada*Circuit Trois-Rivières, a racetrack in Trois-Rivières, Quebec...

     - Carrefour Trois-Rivières Ouest
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