David’s Bridal Offers Membership Perks as Store Closures Loom

David’s Bridal has debuted a new membership perk as it tries to remain afloat.

Throughout May — to coincide with Small Business Month — customers who are Diamond members at the specialty retailer will receive gift cards for women-owned small businesses, the company announced in a Tuesday (May 2) news release.

The launch of the program comes weeks after David’s Bridal said it would wind down operations if it fails to find a buyer. The company said in the release the membership perks for Diamond members are part of a broader plan to move beyond the bridal space to cover “the entire special event space and beyond.”

The company said in the release it also formed several partnerships with other businesses, including Converse, Shutterfly and Sandals Resort.

“We are always working to provide more for our customers for their ever-changing special occasion needs,” said Kelly Cook, David’s Bridal chief marketing and IT officer, in the release. “From homecoming and prom to wedding and beyond, this partnership has our customers covered.”

In a bankruptcy court filing last month, David’s Bridal CEO James Marcum said the company would have to shut down if it can’t find a buyer.

Although it supplies gowns to a quarter of the brides in America, the company has struggled since the pandemic, while also dealing with shifts in consumer behavior and a declining rate of weddings in the United States.

According to Marcum, the company’s research showed there were 1.9 million weddings in 2022, compared to a pre-pandemic average of 2.2 million per year.

In addition, the rising popularity of nontraditional wedding attire has led to a decline in store traffic. In-store appointments fell by 22% in the fourth quarter of 2022.

PYMNTS looked at the company’s past efforts to entice members via loyalty programs, noting the contrast between its work and that of another retailer, Francesca’s.

“While the two retailers are in different categories, there may be some lessons in Francesca’s for David’s Bridal,” PYMNTS wrote.

In creating its “Fran Club,” the apparel seller strived to build a campaign with three crucial components: its existing loyalty customers, sales associates and brand ambassadors. It gave gift cards to the brand ambassadors to shop at the stores, and they chose the items they wanted to promote on social media.

Although David’s Bridal has held in-person shopping events and trunk shows, the events lacked the personalization needed to get the company’s loyalty program to the crucial point where members spent more than non-members.

For all PYMNTS retail coverage, subscribe to the daily Retail Newsletter.