American bridal chain David’s Bridal opens its first UK store in Westfield Stratford City in October. Retail Week takes a look at what it is.

  • David’s Bridal is a US wedding dress retail chain which also offers dresses for bridesmaids and wedding guests.
  • It has 300 stores across the US, Canada and Puerto Rico and is so popular that one in three brides in the States wears a David’s Bridal dress on their big day.
  • In August last year US private equity investor Clayton Dubilier & Rice, the company which bought a share in B&M Bargains last year, bought the majority share of David’s Bridal from Leonard Green & Partners (LG&P) and TPG Capital. LG&P remains a minority investor. The deal valued the retailer at $1.05bn.
  • David’s Bridal opened its first store in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1950 with the view to sell wedding dresses at affordable prices.
  • The retailer has evolved to become vertically integrated in the last ten years, designing and making its own dresses to push prices even lower.
  • David’s Bridal executive vice president and chief marketing officer Brian Beitler told Retail Week that the retailer changed the emphasis to design and style alongside value in order to offer everyone a choice. Beitler explains: “For brides with a lower budget we became the dominant chain but realised there was appetite for brides who had a bit more money but valued affordability coupled with great designs.”
  • As part of its offer David’s Bridal collaborates with designers Vera Wang, Zac Posen, Oleg Cassini, Melissa Sweet in order to offer designer dresses at lower prices.
  • The average price of a David’s Bridal wedding dress in the US is $1,100 due to the competitive market. In the UK the average wedding dress will cost £1,100 and will range from £250 up to £1,800.
  • Every time a bride finds her perfect wedding dress the store rings a bell to mark the significance of the moment. The tradition started after Beitler saw the idea used in a store when he first started at the retailer while he was training. Beitler says that the ringing of the bell made the bride cry as she realised the true significance of the dress, while he admits he also shed a few tears.

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