For the second time David’s Bridal has gone bankrupt in North America and has secured only enough money to fulfill bridal gowns already in the system. The 300 stores including the 12 in Canada are for sale and if a buyer is not found in the next weeks, the company will begin a shutdown by July.
It is unclear why the company with a rebounding wedding market is struggling so badly. It is another example of a U.S. company that might close their Canadian unit with no attempt to find a buyer in Canada. This was how Sears did it in Canada and so many others.
David’s Bridal has been in Winnipeg since the early 2000s when Kenaston Common was built as the anchor Costco went up. With a jeweler in the same cluster of businesses, it seemed a can’t lose location for a bridal shop.
There has been quite a lot of retail chaos going on. Even online retailers are reducing workforces. Still, it seems that wedding spending has recovered and this shouldn’t be happening. This leads back to management. It feel likes management has not managed things well. Still, David’s Bridal sells one out of four dresses in the U.S. Imagine the panic about wedding this spring.
There are many independent wedding retailers out there and they have been competing against this giant for some time. They also seem to be able to take the pulse of what is wanted out there. It isn’t impossible for this store to recover but it is just as likely they cut all Canada out no matter what happens in the U.S.
This has been a guest editorial by John Dobbin.
To read more from John, visit his blog Observations, Reservations, Conversations
