David’s Bridal to file for bankruptcy

David’s Bridal, one of the largest wedding dress retailers nationally, said Thursday it plans to file for bankruptcy protection “in the near future.”

Brides and bridesmaids, however, need not worry. The Pennsylvania company said it has sufficient funds to keep more than 300 stores open and will continue operations as usual through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which allows companies to restructure operations and finances while protecting them from creditors. The company has two stores in San Antonio.

“Orders will arrive on time, and bridal appointments will not be impacted,” the company said in a statement.

Bridal shops have struggled to compete in an increasingly competitive industry as millennials are marrying later and opting for less traditional wedding attire as outdoor weddings grow in popularity.

Weddings in religious institutions today represent less than a quarter of all weddings, down from 41 percent in 2009, while outdoor ceremonies now constitute a little more than half of weddings, up from 39 percent in 2009, according to wedding planning company The Knot.

At the same time, the rising cost of weddings — and the escalating cost of gowns — has forced some cost-conscious brides to seek cheaper dresses to wear on their big day.

The average amount spent on a wedding dress in 2017 was $1,509, down 3.5 percent from $1,564 in 2016, according to The Knot.

As a result, fashion retailers such as Anthropologie and H&M have saturated the bridal market with more casual and cheaper dresses, crowding out longtime wedding retailers such as David’s Bridal.

The company started more than 60 years ago as a small shop in Florida and grew to hundreds of stores throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

David’s Bridal’s impending bankruptcy comes a little more than a year after Alfred Angelo abruptly filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in July 2017 and shuttered more than 60 stores nationwide, forcing Texas brides to scramble to find new dresses.

Earlier this year, Gap closed 13 Weddington Way shops nationwide.

Weddington Way, an online startup that was acquired by Gap in 2016, sold bridesmaid dresses and accessories.

J. Crew, which sold bridal gowns for more than a decade, exited the wedding market in 2016, nixing its bride and bridesmaid lines.

David’s Bridal said it reached agreements with most of its lenders and creditors to reduce the company’s debt by more than $400 million. Lenders also committed more than $40 million in new financing that will help keep the company in business through the restructuring process.

The company hired Debevoise & Plimpton as its legal adviser, Evercore as its financial adviser and AlixPartners as its restructuring adviser. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, a New York-based private equity firm, acquired David’s Bridal in 2012.

paul.takahashi@chron.com

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