Womenswear retailer Groupe Dynamite Inc has made its Toronto Stock Exchange debut.

The Montreal-based firm behind the Dynamite and Garage stores began trading Thursday under the ticker GRGD.

Shares in the company were priced at $21 in their initial public offering but were down during the day, closing $1.15 lower at $19.85.

The launch comes as the global retail market has been battered by high inflation and interest rates, which have eased but are continuing to weigh on consumers headed into the key holiday season.

Few companies, let alone retailers in Canada, have gone public in the last few years amid such conditions.

Groupe Dynamite has not said what spurred its decision and spokesperson Anne Dongois said in a Thursday email that the retailer was unable to grant interviews during its primary distribution period, which is likely to end Nov. 26.

Liza Amlani, co-founder of the Retail Strategy Group, believes the brand chose to go public to get the cash infusion it needs to fuel future growth.

"Groupe Dynamite going public is an important next step for the brand as it begins to scale at a faster pace," she said in an email.

Groupe Dynamite got its start in 1975 with a lone store at the Place Versailles shopping mall, but now has a network of about 300 locations across Canada and the U.S. It employs about 6,000 people.

The majority of the stores it has opened since 2022 have been in the U.S. market, which Groupe Dynamite has described as "higher growth."

It has said it plans to continue growing in the U.S. but is also eyeing other regions such as the U.K.

Going public gives Groupe Dynamite the resources to make their ambitions a reality and reach the coveted generation Z, people born between 1997 to 2012.

"There is an opportunity to open more physical stores in the U.S. that market towards Gen Z, and Dynamite and Garage are exactly what Shein and Temu are not — physical shopping destinations that are trendy," Amlani said, referencing the company's online retail rivals, which have grown in popularity in recent years.

Groupe Dynamite's IPO included more than 14 million subordinate voting shares.

The offering was made through a syndicate of underwriters including Goldman Sachs Canada Inc., BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., RBC Dominion Securities Inc. and TD Securities Inc.

The sale was expected to generate gross proceeds of about $300 million for the selling shareholders.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GRGD)

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press