SSENSE bankruptcy could be harbinger of trouble for Canadian retailers
On August 29, the United States ended the de miminis exemption, a rule that had allowed small value shipments to cross the border without duties for decades. It鈥檚 already affecting some retailers in Canada. The Montreal-based luxury fashion retailer SSENSE filed for bankruptcy the same day the de minimis rule was changed, and cited the change as a reason that it did. As recently as 2021, the company was valued at $4 billion by Sequoia Capital, a U.S. venture capital firm. The company鈥檚 challenges aren鈥檛 surprising, says Charles de Brabant, the Executive Director of the Bensadoun School of Retail Management. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not an easy landscape for retailers at the moment,鈥� de Brabant told The Daily Guardian. 鈥淎nd in my view, there is probably more to come.鈥�
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