David’s Bridal has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is in the process of closing stores and laying off more than 9,000 employees. It’s the second bankruptcy filing in five years, making lots of people wonder about the future of the popular wedding store chain.
Now, the leading seller of wedding dresses has a new owner. A court recently approved the sale of David’s Bridal to Cion Investment Corp, who plans to keep “a majority” of the stores open. But still, 49 David’s Bridal stores have closed over the last month.
What does the bankruptcy filing and the new ownership mean for brides, bridesmaids, and David’s Bridal customers? Here’s what we know so far:
About 1/6th of David’s Bridal stores (49 locations) have closed this year.
David’s Bridal released info about their bankruptcy process, and shared that 49 locations were closing and would be sold as part of a private sale back in June. Since then, the company has closed those 49 stores and rerouted any phone calls to David’s Bridal locations that remain open. Here’s the list of stores that have closed this year:
- Montgomery, AL
- Jonesboro, AR
- Chico, CA
- Los Angeles, CA
- Oxnard, CA
- Colorado Springs, CO
- Pensacola, FL
- Port Orange, FL
- West Melbourne, FL
- Atlanta, GA
- Columbus, GA
- Pearl City, HI
- Davenport, IA
- Marion, IA
- Sioux City, IA
- Champaign, IL
- Lombard, IL
- Springfield, IL
- Vernon Hills, IL
- Clarksville, IN
- Lafayette, IN
- Topeka, KS
- Paducah, KY
- Bossier City, LA
- North Dartmouth, MA
- Columbia, MO
- St. Peters, MO
- Hattiesburg, MS
- Tupelo, MS
- Billings, MT
- Lincoln, NE
- Blasdell, NY
- Horseheads, NY
- Mayfield Heights, OH
- Strongsville, OH
- West Chester, OH
- Eugene, OR
- Spartanburg, SC
- Rapid City, SD
- Abilene, TX
- College Station, TX
- Corpus Christi, TX
- Hurst, TX
- Layton, UT
- Orem, UT
- Hampton, VA
- Roanoke, VA
- South Burlington, VT
- Madison, WI
Nearly 200 David’s Bridal stores will stay open, new owners say.
Cion Investment Corp is taking over David’s Bridal in a deal that will keep 195 stores open and save about 7,000 jobs. Their plan is to continue the business on a scaled-down basis and reduce the company’s debt significantly. Without it, the company would’ve inevitably faced total liquidation; other bidders only wanted the company’s intellectual property.
The David’s Bridal sale was a “no-cash” deal, which means that Cion did not pay a direct monetary amount to purchase the company. Instead, they likely agreed to take on certain liabilities, debts, or other non-monetary obligations to acquire the business. The specifics of the no-cash deal were not provided.
No news of any David’s Bridal liquidation sales.
Although closures tend to mean liquidation sales, the Twitterverse has been quiet with regard to any David’s Bridal closeout sales. It’s more than likely, however, that David’s Bridal simply reshuffled their inventory to the other stores that are still open. David’s Bridal also does online sales, so inventory may have returned to the online marketplace.
But if that changes, we’ll let you know here.
David’s Bridal is still selling wedding dresses, accepting gift cards, and doing returns and exchanges.
David’s Bridal is still fully operational and serving customers at this time, both in store and online. Customers can still make returns and exchanges as normal, and alterations are still being made. Additionally, the David’s Bridal Diamond loyalty program remains active, allowing shoppers to earn and redeem rewards, and gift cards are still being honored and sold.
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