USA TODAY International Edition
Brides leave wedding stores stuck at altar
More are saying ‘I do’ to online alternatives
As a bride to be, Mary Thornally was dreading the experience of shopping for a wedding dress and, ultimately, paying an exorbitant price.
“My sister and I had planned to go look around at stores, but then the whole thought of it was really daunting to me,” said Thornally, a stay-athome mom and San Francisco Bay Area resident, feeling “overwhelmed” by the thought of trying on dresses in person and making a decision on the spot.
With gowns and alterations averaging $1,509 per bride in 2017, according to wedding site TheKnot.com, Thornally said she needed a “practical” alternative because she is “drowning in student loan debt” and trying to avoid unnecessary expenses. She worked to keep costs down, for instance, by buying her bouquet at Safeway and having her sister serve as photographer.
She also decided to buy her wedding dress on the internet, joining a wave of brides who are shopping online for a product long dominated by specialty stores and boutique shops. Online retail, social media, personalized fashion trends, alternative choices and declining marriage rates collectively pose a serious threat to brick-and-mortar wedding retailers.
Thornally ended up buying her dress for her late-August wedding for about $180 and getting it tailored for $160. And she was thrilled with the quality. “All in all, I think $340 is incredibly cheap,” she said.
As more customers like Thornally embrace online alternatives, average gown prices are falling, and physical stores are struggling to adapt:
David’s Bridal, once known for the tight grip it held on the wedding business, is facing financial challenges. David’s Bridal still sells about one in three U.S. wedding dresses through its more than 300 stores and website, with estimated annual retail revenue of $791 million, according to market research firm IBISWorld.
But the company recently hired restructuring adviser Evercore to evaluate its options amid what S&P Global Ratings called “weak operating performance and weak liquidity.”
The Gap cut its Weddington Way brand, which primarily sold bridesmaid dresses at Banana Republic locasumers tions, in 2017.
J. Crew ended its bridal-wear line in fall 2016.
Many mom-and-pop shops and other wedding retailers have gone out of business, including Alfred Angelo Bridal, which abruptly closed some 60 stores in a 2017 liquidation that left many brides scrambling to get dresses.
Wedding retailers often make money on other products, such as high school prom dresses or wedding accessories. But they live and die on the bridal gown business, which makes up about 43 percent of the wedding retail industry’s revenue, IBISWorld says.
The trend of Americans waiting longer to get married, or deciding not to at all, isn’t helping. The number of new marriages per 1,000 Americans was 6.9 in 2016, down from 8.2 in 2000, according to the U.S. government.
The days of dresses coming in a limited number of shapes, sizes and prices from a select group of stores are coming to an end.
That might be good news for con- seeking deals and choices. The average price paid for a wedding dress fell 3.5 percent from 2016 to 2017, according to TheKnot. But physical retailers often can’t afford to stock a wide mix of choices.
“The number of weddings has gone down over the last few years, but then there’s also a trend of brides spending less on their wedding gowns,” said Mathew Christy, S&P Global Ratings analyst who studies David’s Bridal.
For years, David’s Bridal has been the giant in the budget wedding business.
But the company, which was acquired in 2012 for more than $1 billion by private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, has an “unsustainable” amount of debt and not enough money coming in to pay for it, Christy said.
David’s Bridal said in a statement to USA TODAY that “our financial outlook is strong and we have ample liquidity to meet our key business objectives.”
Most wedding dresses are still sold in person, about 95 percent, according to Anomalie.
But the pursuit of deals, customized dresses and convenience is fueling an online surge that many physical retailers aren’t equipped to counteract.
The internet has usurped other sources as the primary method of wedding planning. About 92 percent used smartphones to plan their wedding in 2017, up from 42 percent in 2014, according to TheKnot.
The trend of Americans waiting longer to get married, or deciding not to at all, isn’t helping.