Ssense Founders Join Sale Process for Troubled Retailer

After fighting off a forced sale, Ssense is still on the auction block.

Rami Atallah, the embattled e-tailer’s co-founder and chief executive, told staff during an all-hands meeting on Sep. 17 that a sale process is not off the table for the Montreal-based company, according to an attendee. But Atallah said he and his brothers Firas and Bassel, with whom he co-founded the company in 2003, will try to head a sale off by placing their own bid for the company, the person said.

“Our family intends to participate as one of the bidders, and our bid will be evaluated under the same rules and oversight as all other bids,” Atallah said during the meeting, according to a video viewed by The Business of Fashion. “Ultimately the court will determine which proposal is best for the company’s future.”

The internal announcement came less than a week after Ssense was granted approval by the Superior Court of Quebec to file for Canada’s equivalent of bankruptcy protection, itself a move intended to prevent a sale by creditors, who had made their own filing to recoup debts owed. The ruling granted Ssense $40 million in interim financing, and allows the company to pursue outside funding to settle its debts, including a sale.

Atallah told staffers in an internal memo on Aug. 28, the day after the creditors’ filing, that a “sale process” was “not the right path for Ssense.”

Ssense’s financial state remains precarious. The company’s bankruptcy filing cited as a primary cause for its troubles the 30 percent tariffs the Trump administration imposed on Canadian imports this year. The filing also flagged the closure of the de minimis tax loophole — which allowed packages under the value of $800 to enter the US duty free.

But Ssense’s problems run deeper. The retailer, which has cultivated a reputation as the go-to e-tailer for young shoppers interested in emerging designers, is facing the same problems that have plagued its competitors, including sinking demand and larger brands pulling their most desirable products from wholesale.

Ssense generated approximately $1.3 billion in sales in 2024, and has brought in a little over $1 billion in 2025, according to a report from Ernst & Young. Ssense also had nearly $500 million in liabilities as of July 2025, the report said.

Atallah and his brothers still own a majority of the company, according to the report. They sold a minority stake to Sequoia Capital in 2021 at a $4.5 billion valuation.

During the all-hands meeting, Atallah also announced another round of layoffs, according to the attendee. Ssense previously laid off more than 100 employees in May.

Following the meeting, the company put staffers on a temporary layoff, meaning those employees are still technically employed by Ssense, a move that allows the company to forgo paying severance in the near term, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Affected employees were sent applications for employment insurance, Canada’s equivalent of unemployment. They were also told that they could be rehired in the coming months if the business permits but will receive severance if they aren’t brought back, the person said.