Hakim Optical, NOI

Hakim Optical, one of Canada’s largest privately-owned chains of eyeglass stores, filed an NOI on April 16.

Founded in Toronto in 1967 by Iranian Canadian entrepreneur Karim Hakimi, the chain grew over the years to over 160 stores across the country, promoting its brand with the award-winning “Your Eyes Can Have it All at Hakim Optical" jingle that is still in use today.

The main causes of the company’s financial difficulty include store closures and losses during the pandemic, a cyber attack that led to a system outage for several months and increased competition and discounting from other optical retailers.

The main creditors include landlords, trade vendors and a numbered company which acquired the senior debt from RBC earlier this year.

KSV Advisory is the proposal trustee.

Counsel is Bennett Jones for the company, Chaitons for the proposal trustee and Loopstra Nixon for the secured creditor.