Le Tote

Le Tote was a fashion rental startup founded in 2012 that offered women unlimited garments and accessories for a monthly fee.¹¹ In September 2019, Le Tote acquired Lord & Taylor from Hudson's Bay Company for $75 million in cash.² Le Tote and Lord & Taylor filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2020, and their assets were sold to Saadia Group for $12 million in October 2020.²¹⁴¹⁵

Timeline

Money raised

Le Tote raised $8.8 million in Series A funding in February 2015.⁸ Le Tote raised $15 million in Series B funding in November 2015.⁸ Le Tote raised $9.5 million in Series C funding in November 2017.⁸ Le Tote acquired Lord & Taylor for $75 million in cash in September 2019.² Saadia Group bought Lord & Taylor and Le Tote for $12 million through a bankruptcy auction in October 2020.⁴¹⁵ Le Tote raised about $76 million in equity through 2017, before a series of debt deals, according to PitchBook Data Inc.⁹

Investors named in the sources: Azure Capital Partners⁸, AITV⁸, Lerer Hippeau Ventures⁸, Simon Venture Group⁸, Epic Ventures⁸, Y Combinator⁸, 500 Startups⁸, TMT Investments¹¹.

What happened

Le Tote was founded in 2012 by Brett Northart and Rakesh Tondon.¹¹ Le Tote was a fashion rental platform giving women access to unlimited garments and accessories each month for a fixed price of $49 per month.¹¹ Le Tote participated in Y Combinator's Summer 2013 batch.⁸ In July 2014, TMT Investments invested $250,000 in Le Tote via a convertible promissory note.¹¹ In February 2015, Le Tote raised $8.8 million in Series A funding led by Azure Capital Partners.⁸

In November 2015, Le Tote raised $15 million in Series B funding led by AITV.⁸ In November 2017, Le Tote raised $9.5 million in Series C funding.⁸ In September 2019, Le Tote acquired Lord & Taylor from Hudson's Bay Company for $75 million in cash.² Le Tote's CEO Rakesh Tondon said the acquisition could help Le Tote reach a new set of customers and access Lord & Taylor's inventory.² Following the acquisition, Le Tote started integrating its service into Lord & Taylor's stores and website.²

Le Tote launched four shop-in-shops in Lord & Taylor stores before the bankruptcy filing.² As part of the deal, Hudson's Bay agreed to cover the rent for Lord & Taylor stores for three years.² Le Tote and Lord & Taylor laid off more than 1,000 employees combined.² Le Tote stopped paying the majority of its vendors to preserve cash.² The coronavirus pandemic led to a decline in visits to Lord & Taylor stores and a drop in Le Tote subscribers.²

On August 2, 2020, Le Tote and Lord & Taylor filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.²¹⁴ Le Tote said it would close 19 of Lord & Taylor's 38 stores.² Le Tote considered offers for both Lord & Taylor and Le Tote individually or as a unit.² Le Tote took out a full-page ad in the Washington Post to reassure customers and market Lord & Taylor to potential buyers.² In October 2020, Saadia Group won the bankruptcy auction with a $12 million bid for Le Tote and Lord & Taylor's intellectual property and e-commerce assets.¹⁵

All Lord & Taylor stores were liquidated by the end of February 2021.⁴ Le Tote's Chapter 11 plan was confirmed on March 24, 2021, and became effective on March 31, 2021.¹⁴ Le Tote's Chapter 11 case was closed on August 27, 2025.¹⁴ In 2020, Le Tote filed a lawsuit against Urban Outfitters alleging violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act.³ Le Tote lost the trade secrets lawsuit against Urban Outfitters.³

Le Tote raised about $76 million in equity through 2017, before a series of debt deals, according to PitchBook Data Inc.⁹ Le Tote failed in 2020 after 8 years of operation, losing $75.0M in raised capital.¹⁰ The root cause was poor unit economics, inventory capital trap.¹⁰ Le Tote, Inc. declares bankruptcy under Chapter 11.⁵ Just one year later, Le Tote filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy following the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the closure of all Lord & Taylor stores and the discontinuation of its private label business.⁵

Le Tote, Inc. had issues with bankruptcy case on Aug 1st '20.⁵ Le Tote, Inc. filed suit against Urban Outfitters on Jun 1st '20.⁵ Le Tote, a subscription-based rental service founded in 2012, filed a complaint against Urban on Monday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.⁵ Le Tote, Inc. goes public.⁵ Seven-year-old online fashion rental startup Le Tote acquired Lord & Taylor to fast track its growth as it heads for an IPO in the next two to three years.⁵

Le Tote, Inc. receives financing of $75M in funding.⁵ Le Tote has raised $75 million in funding, with IPO expected in the next two to three years.⁵ Le Tote, Inc. opened new location in Manhattan, New York, United States, Northern America, Americas on Dec 9th '19.⁵ The news a few days ago that Le Tote, the new owner of what’s left of Lord & Taylor, was opening a pop-up store in Lower Manhattan for the holidays was greeted by some as the second coming of the retailing messiah.⁵ Le Tote, Inc. hired Ruth Hartman as President of Lord + Taylor on Nov 1st '14.⁵

To lead the integration of its innovative, data-driven strategy, Le Tote named its Chief Merchandising Officer, Ruth Hartman, as President of Lord + Taylor.⁵

Legal outcomes

• filedLe Tote filed a lawsuit against Urban Outfitters in 2020 alleging violation of the Defend Trade Secrets Act.³
• dismissedLe Tote lost the trade secrets lawsuit against Urban Outfitters.³

Sources

1. 8-year-old startup Le Tote is bankrupt a year after buying Lord & Taylor and trying to save it from collapse, Business Insider, 2020-08-07
2. Le Tote's bold bet buying Lord & Taylor comes up bust, Modern Retail, 2020-08-04
3. Effectively Defunct Le Tote Loses Trade Secrets Lawsuit to ..., finance.yahoo.com, Apr 18, 20
4. Retail Resurrects: Lord & Taylor Relaunching E-commerce, windowswear.com, Mar 16, 20
5. Le Tote Company Overview, Contact Details & Competitors | LeadIQ, LeadIQ
8. LE TOTE – Funding, Valuation, Investors, News, Parsers VC
9. Chernova's Take: Le Tote Bankruptcy Points to Vulnerable ..., wsj.com, Aug 4, 202
10. Test Your Idea in 120s — Free AI Startup Validator | IdeaProof, IdeaProof.io
11. Investegate | Company Announcement, investegate.co.uk, Jul 22, 20
12. Lord & Taylor Has a Surprising New Owner. What Happens ..., businessoffashion.com, Aug 29, 20
14. Le Tote, Inc. bankruptcy: docket, status and key dates, ElevenFlo, Sep 12, 20
15. Lord & Taylor, Le Tote $12 Million Asset Sale to Saadia Approved, news.bloomberglaw.com, 2020-10-20

How this case file was put together

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