The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 2013–2017
Ben Moss Jewellers, a Canadian chain since 1910, filed for creditor protection in 2016
A 106-year-old Canadian jewelry and watch retailer filed for CCAA creditor protection in May 2016, closing 11 stores as the weak dollar squeezed it.
Ben Moss Jewellers Western Canada Ltd.
What happened
Ben Moss Jewellers was a Canadian fine jewelry and watch retailer founded in 1910, operating stores primarily in Western Canada. The chain sold watches from brands like Rolex, Tag Heuer, and Citizen alongside fine jewelry. After a wholesaler acquired the chain in 2013, the company struggled under the combined weight of a weak Canadian dollar and a soft economy in Western Canada, where the oil price downturn had reduced consumer spending.
By early 2016, Ben Moss was insolvent. On May 18, 2016, the company filed for creditor protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) in Ontario Superior Court. Alvarez & Marsal Canada Inc. was appointed as court monitor. Gordon Brothers Canada was hired to manage closing sales, and 11 underperforming stores were shut down immediately.
The restructuring failed to save the business. Most remaining stores closed through 2016, and in January 2017 the Ben Moss name and remaining assets were acquired by a new entity. The original company, founded over a century earlier, ceased operations entirely.
Why it happened
- A 2013 acquisition by a wholesaler loaded the company with debt from a buyer who understood supply chains better than retail customers, and the restructuring that might have saved it never came.
- The Western Canada oil downturn hit Ben Moss's heartland: when resource-sector workers stopped buying watches and jewelry, the chain had no second region to fall back on.
- A weak Canadian dollar made imported watches and jewelry more expensive for the company while Canadian consumers had less spending power — a double squeeze.
- At 11 stores, Ben Moss was too small to absorb currency and commodity shocks that a national chain could ride out, but too large to pivot quickly to a different model.
The lesson
A regional jeweler with a dozen stores is one downturn from insolvency. A weak currency raises import costs while lowering spending — the only hedge is diversity, which a small chain cannot afford.
Sources
- Wall Street Journal — Jewelry Chain Ben Moss Receives Creditor Protection (May 2016)
- Jewellery Business — Ben Moss granted creditor protection
- Winnipeg Free Press — Ben Moss Jewellers loses its glimmer, seeks creditor protection
- Fashion Network — Canadian jewellery chain Ben Moss gets creditor protection
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