Saying yes to the dressmay be difficult, butpicking the bridal shopis a process in and of itself.
Naturally, your budget also plays an important role in which dress and shop you select.
This is where David’s Bridal excels.
The true story of David’s Bridal is one that not many know.
Here’s the untold truth of David’s Bridal.
Who is David?
For some two decades, Reisberg ran his one-off boutique.
Born David Milton Reisberg and originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Reisberg was a veteran of World War II.
The small salon Reisberg had once owned quickly became a thing of the past.
According toOne Perfect Day, they stocked gowns in one standard size as was the norm during that time.
By the 1980s, Youtie began experimenting with a different business model.
True to its name, it wasn’t a glamorous location.
There weren’t any carpets on the floors nor any dressing rooms in which to try on gowns.
What they did have, though, were bridal gowns athalfthe price other salons were charging.
Youtie and his partner were able to offer these incredible prices by selling off manufacturers' overstocks.
The prices of the gowns may have been low, but everything else was extra.
So much so thatOne Perfect Dayrevealed they started putting an end to selling their overstocks to the company.
Over the next nine years, Youtie also made some big changes to the warehouses themselves.
Instead of the bare floors, he added carpeting.
He also made the call to add fitting rooms.
Gradually, the stark warehouses started resembling conventional stores, albeit much larger.
By the new millennium, David’s Bridal was something entirely different than it’d been in its heyday.
While some of the smaller indie wedding wear shops were carrying ready-made gowns, they still required tailoring.
With tailoring, of course, meant the bride would need to come in for fittings.
The company was, at that time, valued at slightly over $1 billion.
That’s not to say they gave up on their brick-and-mortar locations, though.
Part of that plan involved hiring a new CEO, Pamela B. Wallack.
She removed the plastic garment bags and let the dresses speak for themselves.
She also invested in adding two additional sizes 28 and 30 and variations within those sizes.
In 2017, the amount of adults who never married reached an all-time high of 20 percent.
That’s probably not the statistic bridal retailers want to hear.
With the decline, came an avalanche of debt in an attempt to keep the company above water.
At the outset of 2018,Business Insiderreported on a big change within the bridal industry.
More and more brides began opting for casual wedding gowns.
for compete, even bigger changes would be required.
Of course, knowing what to do and actually doing it are two very different things.
Will David’s Bridal live happily ever after?
By February 2018,Moody’s Investor Servicedeclared David’s Bridal to have a “negative outlook.”
Basically, it’s not looking good for David’s Bridal.
No doubt, the company was hoping to boost its sales.
Unfortunately for the bridal chain, it didn’t happen.
They also hired restructuring advisers and legal counsel.
Regardless, CEO Scott Key seems determined.
Indeed, the company is putting its money where its mouth is, as it were.
That’s not all that’s changed at David’s Bridal.
Now, that’s pretty cool.
Nevertheless, David’s Bridal is doing what it can with what it has.
Key confirmed toWomen’s Wear Dailythat the company launched BluePrint Registry, a free registry service.
But David’s Bridal refuses to believe brick-and-mortar stores are a thing of the past.
He continued, saying, “Think of online as the future and stores as the present.”
David’s Bridal remains committed to selling both online and in-store; both nowandlater.
‘Til death do us part and all that, right?
