Boutique Jacob is back as a supplier to Costco
Boutique Jacob, the Quebec-based women’s clothing brand, is getting back into business, though not as a retailer.
Instead, some of its products will be carried at Costco.
In a recent post on its Facebook page — which had been inactive since January 2017 — the company said the warehouse store is now carrying a sweater made by the company under the brand Chic by Jacob.
Boutique Jacob, founded in Sorel-Tracy in 1977, once had more than 200 stores across the country.
It filed for bankruptcy in 2014 after struggling to compete with new entrants to the Canadian market, like H&M.
The family-owned business had just over 90 locations when all of them closed — with the exception of five in Quebec that have since closed. The Sorel-Tracy store technically remains open until someone is found to rent the location, Cristelle Basmaji, the daughter of company founder Joseph Basmaji, told La Presse.
An online retail operation continued until at least 2017, but the company’s website is no longer active.
Jacob plans to sell one or two pieces per season at Costco, and the company has said it’s looking for a way to relaunch its perfume line. A significant percentage of posts on Jacob’s Facebook page lament the disappearance of the perfume, asking if it is coming back.