What does the David's Bridal bankruptcy mean for brides-to-be?
David's Bridal said it is looking to sell the company, but stores are open and fulfilling orders for brides without disruption.
CONSHOHOCKEN, Pennsylvania -- David's Bridal, one of the largest sellers of wedding gowns in the United States, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The news comes just days after the formalwear store chain said it would be eliminating 9,236 positions across the United States.
The Conshohocken, Pennsylvania-based retailer employs more than 11,000 workers.
Some customers said they were more worried about the workers than themselves.
"It's kind of stressful going into this process, but I also feel bad for all these employees being laid off," said Maddy Cunningham of Conshohocken.
David's Bridal said it is looking to sell the company, but in the meantime stores are open and fulfilling orders for brides without disruption or delay.
The wedding superstore with a 70-year history claims to sell one in every three bridal gowns in the U.S.
"They may shut some stores down. If that happens, you're probably going to need to go a little bit further to find a David's," said Julie Sabatino, founder of "The Stylish Bride."
Layoffs could begin as soon as this month.
In its bankruptcy hearing in Trenton, New Jersey on Monday, David's Bridal said it has 130,000 outstanding orders right now and it does plan to fulfill all of them.
"What we're seeing right now is dresses are taking anywhere between nine and 12 months to be produced, which is a much longer lead time than we were dealing with pre-pandemic," said Sabatino.
It also says customers can continue submitting returns and exchanges, get alterations and use gift cards. It also says its Pearl platform and Diamond program remain accessible to use.
The Monday morning announcement marks the second time that David's Bridal has filed for bankruptcy in the last five years.
The company previously filed for bankruptcy in 2018 after being laden with growing debt and declining sales of wedding dresses. It emerged from bankruptcy in 2019 as it continued to try to fix the business.
