Retailer Oak and Fort granted creditor protection, blames tariffs for financial crisis

Retailer Oak and Fort granted creditor protection, blames tariffs for financial crisis

Oak and Fort's Roosevelt Field location in New York. The Vancouver-based company was granted an initial order on Friday under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.

Canadian clothing retailer Oak and Fort Corp. has been granted court protection from its creditors, blaming an ill-conceived store expansion and U.S. tariffs for its financial crisis.

The Vancouver-based company, which operates 42 stores in the U.S. and Canada, was granted an initial order on Friday under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) and is planning a parallel Chapter 15 bankruptcy proceeding in the U.S.

While Oak and Fort has been losing money for at least the past three years, the situation became more urgent after