Last month, David’s Bridal, one of the nations largest wedding dress retailers in the country, filed for bankruptcy for the second time in five years. As a result, the company plans to lay off over 9,000 workers.
Late last night NewsChannel 8 got an e-mail from a bridal store owner here in Tulsa. She was concerned about the industry, after the latest news of David’s bridal.
“I’ve heard that if they don’t get a buyer tomorrow, June 1st. Then they will have to liquidate," said Facchianos owner Jennifer Thompson.
According to court documents, David’s Bridal is $257 million in debt. They say that after covid-19 things really started to go downhill. But David’s isn’t the only bridal shop that’s gone out of business recently. Alfred Angelo filed for bankruptcy six years ago and she still remembers how it hurt the industry.
“I remember it was on a Thursday. And they literally were closing their doors at 5 pm. So girls were running over there and some girls didn’t even hear about it because it was literally not broadcasted out there. And some girls were left without dresses. And you're left without a dress and your wedding is in a month or two. That’s a scary situation to be in," said Thompson.
David’s Bridal CEO Jim Marcum promised to fulfill every order that has been put in as of a month ago. But Jennifer says that she has seen this story before.
“Never great for the community. I don’t like it because they have the lower-end dresses. You know they have dresses that are $99 or $500. We used to be the middle of the road. I think we are going to be the low-end dresses because our dresses start at 1400. Theirs were as low as 99. When people ask me, where can I go get a dress that’s less than $1,000, I don’t think there is going to be a place anymore," said Thompson.
Since COVID, David’s Bridal says sales have not been the same, but this local store owner remembers when she was shut down for six weeks.
“I think 2020 affected us. I don’t think it’s what people have been saying. Like I think David’s has been saying that there’s a lot of that. I’m like no we all came through that together. Everybody did that together. I don’t think it's that. I think it’s corporate versus small," she said.
David’s bridal has already started layoffs. They will continue through August 11 and affect about 300 stores nationwide.