The Week of April 8th in Review

Posted on April 13, 2013 Written by Leave a Comment

By Paul Pannone

After a two-year investigation eWedNewz broke the story on the wedding charity, Wish Upon a Wedding, investigating allegations and assertions against the charity’s founders and how the organization is managed. This newZ source has stepped up our investigation looking into people who gave their time and abandoned the organization after a relatively short period.

Disillusioned ex-participants and volunteers are hesitantly coming forward telling eWedNewz their stories but are stopping short of going public. Some major wedding industry figures are giving their version of what happened in the Wedding Water Cooler but, oddly, have not come forward. This newZ source has determined that some are under a confidentiality agreement prohibiting them to speak freely.

An ongoing eWedNewz poll so-far shows 57% of respondents say Wish Upon a Wedding is a good concept managed poorly. 20% feel it’s a bad idea run by thieves, resulting in a 77% disapproval rate. 6% say Wish Upon a Wedding  is a very well-run, worthy cause. 14% of replies so-far say they’ve never heard of the organization but will be following the story.

 

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Filed Under: Anti Fairy Dust, Breaking Newz, eWedNewz, eWedNewz Exclusive, General News, Hall of Shame, Ongoing Story Coverage, Ongoing Story Investigation, The Week in Review, Wedding Charities, wedding industry, Wedding Marketing Scams, Wedding planners, Wedding Water Cooler Tagged: , , ,

Wish Upon a Wedding Charity Organization Comes Under Fire

Posted on April 11, 2013 Written by Leave a Comment

By Paul Pannone

What started as a simple story has unleashed a tidal wave of criticism and concern against the charity organization, Wish Upon a Wedding. The explosion came after Lisa Barr openly criticized the organization after years of silence .Barr cracked open the door for a wave of stories involving the organization prompting an eWedNewz investigation looking into how the foundation has allegedly collected and amassed money, while receiving donated services given by wedding industry volunteers who thought they’d be getting involved in a good cause.

With donated goods and services from vendors and a staff of willing volunteers, past participants of Wish Upon a Wedding ask where is all the money collected?

 

Numerous corroborating reports say ideas to help the organization were continually shot down by senior members whose only interest was to promote the business, raise awareness to the brand and grow involvement to raise more funds.

“What for?” ask sources who are coming forward because of the newZ.  Sources like Barr who’ve already come forward are expected to be joined by others talking with eWedNewz to publicly denounce practices of the organization and its founding members.

eWedNewz is sifting through a barrage of emails, assumptions, allegations and questions involving Wish Upon a Wedding. We’ve already contacted known avid supporters of the organization who now say they’ve distanced themselves from the organization years ago. Some claim the time required to be a board member was too impacting on their daily schedule while others have ignored our questions.

An ongoing eWedNewz  poll show 55% of responses so far feel the concept of the organization is a worthy cause but the management sorely lacks in ethics and execution.  18% feel it’s a bad idea run by thieves. 19% say they’ve never heard of Wish upon a Wedding. Only 3% say it’s a well-run, worthy organization .  The rest are other answers being investigated.

 

 

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Filed Under: Anti Fairy Dust, Breaking Newz, Charity Work, eWedNewz Exclusive, Ongoing Story Coverage, Ongoing Story Investigation, Paul Pannone, Poll, Wedding Charities, wedding industry Tagged: , , , ,

Wish Upon a Wedding Website Up after being Down for a Month

Posted on April 9, 2013 Written by 3 Comments

By Paul Pannone

The Wish Upon a Wedding website was back up and running yesterday after being down for a month since March 8th. Tips from sources watching the charity that grants wedding wishes to challenged couples say they’ve watched the organization for several years.

Some say they were once supporters but backed away when leaders of the charity could not give reasons why they were being charged a hundred-dollar membership fee to give their time. Sourced told eWedNewz all products, goods and services are donated yet the organization is sitting on “a ton of cash” they’ve collected over the years. Some feel there are not enough events given by the organization to call for the type of money the they collect and hold on to.

 

From the Wish Upon a Wedding Facebook Wall the organization posted they are aware of the website difficulty on March 8th. The website came back up on april 8th, after eWedNewz broke the newZ on Twitter & Facebook.

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Filed Under: Anti Fairy Dust, Breaking Newz, Charity Work, eWedNewz, Ongoing Story Investigation, Paul Pannone, Uncategorized, Wedding Charities, Wedding Water Cooler Tagged: , , ,

New Head of IBMA Accepts ABPIA Offer to Work Together

Posted on April 4, 2013 Written by Leave a Comment

By Paul Pannone

eWedNewz has learned that Hedy Lapkin, the new head of IBMA, has reached out to Steve Lang to work together on the issue of Chinese counterfeiting. In less than 48 hours the wedding industry, specifically gown makers and retailers, were updated with some disturbing newZ about the difficult road that lies ahead to fight off the piracy plaguing the business.

 

Slowly but surely,  Steve Lang continues to rally support in the wedding industry.

 

Lang broke away from the IBMA to start the ABPIA last year and has now pulled a power-play by paying his membership dues to the abandoned organization. In a written e-mail Lang gave his personal invitation to Lapkin and told eWedNewz;

“I was contacted by Hedy Lapkin today. She wants to work with us on counterfeiting effort. She will group with me after I return from Asia. She apologized that I did not receive original email from IBMA. [She] said it was oversight, but no matter, we are now  members of IBMA. I take this as a positive sign and I will help them in any way possible to fight pirates,” according to Lang.

Wedding dress retailers picked up on frustration and personal opinions given on my Facebook wall shared after reporting China efforts to disrupt and destroy American business.  Stunned retailers say they look forward to greater unity and coöperation among wedding industry professionals to set aside personal differences and work together against the common enemy.

 

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Filed Under: Anti Fairy Dust, Breaking Newz, eWedNewz, eWedNewz Exclusive, Ongoing Story Coverage, Ongoing Story Investigation, Paul Pannone, retail, The Internet, Uncategorized, Wedding Dresses Tagged: , , , , ,

Joseph Abboud Formal Wear to get Face-lift

Posted on March 25, 2013 Written by 2 Comments

By Paul Pannone

eWedNewz has learned that FLOW formal wear plans a makeover of the Joseph Abboud name for their formal wear to include better fabrics, fit, design and marketing. The update comes as a new generation of formal wear users looks to an updated version of the tuxedo they can call their own, and not stepping into their father’s scratchy wool, boxy garment.

The proposed update is part of the ongoing efforts by FLOW to keep current with changing consumer demands since acquiring the Joseph Abboud name in 2010 from Fabian Couture.

Joseph Abboud tuxedos by FLOW Formal

FLOW broke new ground in 2013 creating images that departed from the normal way formal wear is marketed in the traditional tuxedo business. Consumers connected with the new style but it’s taking retailers a bit longer to catch up to how the public immediately interprets new items via Social Media.

According to FLOW the relaunch is set for June 1st with product samples as early as May. eWedNewz will continue to follow this story and welcomes your comments.

76% of an ongoing poll says the tuxedo business is holding steady and ready for a comeback. 14% feels the tuxedo business is dying, while 4% says it’s dead. A year ago over 30% felt the tuxedo business was in dire straits. eWedNewz continues to watch the comeback.

 

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Filed Under: Advertising and Marketing, Breaking Newz, eWedNewz, eWedNewz Exclusive, General News, Joseph Abboud, Men's formal wear, Ongoing Story Coverage, Paul Pannone, Poll, The Groom, tuxedos, Uncategorized Tagged: , , , ,

The Week of February 18th in Review | Breaking Bridal Guide story

Posted on February 24, 2013 Written by Leave a Comment

By Paul Pannone

An ongoing investigation into the flaws and cracks widening in the wedding business exposes the sensitivity and threshold of pain on several fronts, including the wedding magazine business. Top newZ comparing current wedding business standards of operation was nearly overtaken by a developing story involving a move by Bridal Guide magazine that sent the owner into a tirade. More on the story  as it develops.

Among the many thieves in the upper level of the business, soft-spoken, hard-working members, including Wendy Hartigan, take the approach that have not allowed her play in the popular circles of the business. Yet Hartigan and others like her who put the emphasis of marriage in the proper context are expected to overtake the unsustainable and deteriorating path of wedding industry charlatans who make it all about themselves at the expense of the wedding couple.

 

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Filed Under: Anti Fairy Dust, Breaking Newz, bridal, Bridal Guide Magazine, Bridal Magazines, eWedNewz, Ongoing Story Coverage, Ongoing Story Investigation, Paul Pannone, The Week in Review, Uncategorized, wedding industry Tagged: , , , , ,

Social Media Adding to Website Slide; both hurting print

Posted on February 13, 2013 Written by 2 Comments

By Paul Pannone

In the latest eWedNewz coverage involving the decline of traditional media, conventional websites are taking a beating.,  As far back as mid 2011 eWedNewz questioned the sustainability of static websites. Today webmasters who say they’ve made millions over the past decade admit they’re suddenly forced to reinvent themselves because of the Social Media explosion.

The growing use of Social Media displaces the need for websites; that displaced the need for printed products since the late 1990′s. Both Websites and Social Media have plummeted the sale of magazines.

 

In the beginning there was the Information Superhighway, A.K.A, the Worldwide Web. Blank stares soon became familiar with the term that gave way to the Internet and later just the Net. E-mail was some futuristic way to communicate and the letters AOL was the facilitator, connecting us with friends and thoughts.

Marketers jumped on banner ads charging exorbitant fees to tap into traffic with inflated numbers that were indisputable. Today banner ads are a joke, along with excessive hosting fees, domain name procurement and all the mystical SEO propositions put forth by Hucksters trying to make a buck. But can websites really totally fade away?

Not according to Wedding Water Cooler members who say they have a place, along with printed product experts.

Newest member of the Cooler, Dorinda Duclos told eWedNewz:

“Build it and they will come?  Yes…and no. Not without a lot of hard work and the right web master.  But that’s not to say that a well-built site won’t bring clients.  The social media takeover does not replace a traditional website.  It enhances it.  For example, you have a new product you want to promote, so you add it to your website.  Who sees it?  If you’re lucky enough to place highly in the search engines then maybe a few more people will.  Now take that same product back to Facebook, upload a picture, write a description & link it back to your website.  You now have a captive audience, through your fan base, (although with FB’s many changes, you may need to promote the product) who in turn will view your product, click the link and land back on your website.  This gives them the opportunity to view more products.  A traditional eCommerce website also allows the client to immediately purchase directly from there.

Pretty doesn’t mean better.  A flash site is a big no-no today because it won’t convert to mobile.  Unless you have code within your site that alerts when the user is accessing your site from a mobile device, they will not see your pages as you do when looking from your computer.  The code makes the necessary switch to a site that you’ve built specifically for mobile access.  Most websites today have this.  There are a few companies that offer the service and will actually build the mobile site for you.  You just have to add the html coding into your site.

The most important thing you can do is refresh your website’s main landing page as often as possible.  This helps keep content fresh and let’s the search engines know there’s something new to index. (Proper coding for Google, yahoo, etc is also needed for this)

Are websites dead? No.  Are they fading? Perhaps.  It really all depends on how much effort you, as the business owner, put into it.  You can’t expect a flower to grow without watering it.  Same thing holds true here.  Don’t think because you have a website that you have business.  You’ll wilt and eventually die…” says Duclos.

Duclos agrees with other business owners who realize launching a website is not the end of anything but only the beginning of the non-ending plight to promote the site. Experts tell eWedNewz the time and cost of standard websites has come crashing down, especially over the past six months. Webmasters who say they’ve made millions since the late 1990′s quietly admit the impact of Social Media has been destructive to their business. Add to the mix out-of-the-box products by Word Press and the “free” effect of available products (Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, etc) allowing business owners to post their own content and update their pages, it’s no wonder the thriving website business is suddenly in serious trouble.

On ongoing poll shows 57% of respondents look to the Internet for their  marketing needs (33% Social Media – 25% e-mail blasts). 16% say they use print. What do you say?

 

 

 

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Filed Under: Advertising and Marketing, Anti Fairy Dust, Breaking Newz, Bridal Magazines, Data, facts and figures, General News, Ongoing Story Coverage, Ongoing Story Investigation, Paul Pannone, Publications, Social Media, The Internet, Uncategorized, wedding websites Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

eWedNewz Exclusive: Bridal Guide Calls Out BRIDES Magazine; BRIDES Responds

Posted on January 11, 2013 Written by 7 Comments

By Paul Pannone

In an eWedNewz Exclusive we’ve obtained information that was to be distributed to wedding industry advertisers citing information from magazine measurement sources that watch over distribution and newsstand sales. The information complied by Bridal Guide Magazine claims  superiority in some areas, backed by the data they reference.

 

Did you know? A recent issue of Bridal Guide featured David Tutera as the first male on the cover. Tutera sported what appears to be a tuxedo; something Bridal Guide passionately supports. Yet eWedNewz learned Tutera refused to wear a tie– either bow or long-tie. The result is the creative (but disappointing) picture blocking the area where appropriate neck-wear should have appeared.

In this exclusive eWedNewz story you’re now reading Bridal Guide leverages what they feel are important facts to show the world why they think they’re a better value than their competitor, BRIDES.

The “tie-in” raises questions on both sides. Bridal Guide often slams BRIDES for not showing tuxedos in their ads. Yet they were not able to get Tutera to wear a simple bow tie, proving you can’t always get what you want. But in the end, are advertisers getting what they pay for?

 

According to Bridal Guide:

GfK MRI reports that Bridal Guide reaches far more engaged women than Brides—nearly 80,000 more engaged women— even though Brides ‘total circulation’ is nearly (twice) that of Bridal Guide.

-Bridal Guide Engaged Audience: 1,127,000
- Brides Engaged Audience: 1,048,000

MRI also documents that the Median Household Income (HHI) of Bridal Guide’s engaged audience is significantly higher than that of Brides—more than $8,500 higher.

- Bridal Guide’s Median HHI: $57,821

- Brides Median HHI: $49,149

Gfk MRI is the leading producer of media and consumer research in the United States. Its reports are unbiased and straightforward. This means that your Brides sales rep has been dishonest with you. Ask her these three questions:

1. Why does Bridal Guide reach so many more engaged women than Brides in spite of a lower total circulation?

2. Why is the Median HHI for engaged women so much higher for Bridal Guide than for Brides?

3. Since Brides reaches fewer engaged women than Bridal Guide, shouldn’t the Brides rates be lower than Bridal Guide rates? It’s up to you. You can believe the hype that Brides is pushing or you can rely on the facts. Either way, you owe it to yourself to ask your Brides sales rep for answers.

Source: ABC June 2012; GfK MRI Fall 2012, Engaged GfK MRI reports that Bridal Guide reaches far more engaged women than Brides—nearly 80,000 more engaged women— even though Brides ‘total circulation’ is nearly 2x that of Bridal Guide.

• Bridal Guide Engaged Audience: 1,127,000

• Brides Engaged Audience: 1,048,000

The information is released at the heel of several moves and a successful campaign by BRIDES to entice lost advertisers who departed when the magazine went monthly several years ago.  The move was disastrous and cost BRIDES advertising support who shifted over to Bridal Guide. In their current issue, BRIDES fought back with major incentives to return and filled pages with paid advertisement rather than editorial and more creative ads. In addition BRIDES enhanced paper quality giving their book a better feel than its competitor and added the first woman of color to Editor In Chief position.

In an unprecedented move BRIDES responded to the eWedNewz story giving the following statement:

 ”To claim that Brides sales reps have been dishonest is untrue, unethical and a clear sign that our competition is rattled. Bridal Guide cherry picked information that doesn’t tell the whole story. Advertisers buy based on total audience, not one segment of that audience.

Brides vs Bridal Guide (based on GFK MRI Double-base 2012 total audience)

Total Audience – Brides is Bigger

Brides – 5,137,000

Bridal Guide – 4,291,000 

Medium Household Income Is Brides Is More Affluent
Brides – $59,795

Bridal Guide – $56,850

The total circulation for Brides is nearly twice that of Bridal Guide. ALL of our readers matter to us, as they do to our advertisers, and our sales reps welcome the calls and the questions.  Our lines are open,” according to Senior Communications Director Michelle Panzer.

According to sources familiar with both sides these are new times where one competitor would openly disparage another. According to the same sources it’s highly out of character for any Conde’ Nast property to acknowledge such information, much less respond to it as they did.  Technically this is the first time there’s been a response to print. However, Michelle Panzer did respond to eWedNewz when we ran a story about their digital division, www.brides.com, in August of 2011.

43% of an ongoing eWedNewz poll says print is dying and will never recover. A similar number says print is fine and will continue as is. Where do you stand?

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Filed Under: Advertising and Marketing, Anti Fairy Dust, Breaking Newz, bridal, Bridal Dresses, Bridal Guide Magazine, Bridal Magazines, BRIDES Magazine, Current Events, eWedNewz, eWedNewz Exclusive, General News, Ongoing Story Coverage, Ongoing Story Investigation, Paul Pannone, Publications, Uncategorized, wedding industry Tagged: , , , ,

Federal Judge Backs ABPIA Efforts

Posted on January 7, 2013 Written by 2 Comments

 

By Paul Pannone

eWedNewz has learned the ABPIA won the support of  Hon. Freda L. Wolfson, a Federal judge in New Jersey. Wolfson upheld a ruling and temporary restraining order granted back in November, 2012, that will help to stop more internet thievery against American wedding occasion dress makers.

 

 The Honorable Freda L. Wolfson gave full backing to the efforts of the ABPIA, headed by Steve Lang. Judge Wolfson is a dedicated upholder of the law, putting the interests of her country first and foremost, before all other civil and global issues that plague businesses in America.

 

In an exclusive eWedNewz interview, Steve Lang, head of the ABPIA, said he was thrilled with the decision.

“We got more than we ever expected from Judge Wolfson. She understands the importance of what we’re trying to accomplish,” Lang told eWedNewz.

Lang has been continually lambasted by critics who feel he has ulterior motives behind the fight but have failed to produce any sort of evidence to substantiate their claims. For the most part critics have fallen silent and tell eWedNewz they’re watching the action from the sidelines. Some commended the efforts but so far have not financially supported them.

In our interview with Lang he told eWedNewz he’s not holding his breath waiting.

“I’ve spent an enormous amount of time, energy and money to get to where we are. The win this week will allow us to really move forward at an even greater speed,” he told eWedNewz.

In a prepared statement to the organization board and wedding industry sources, Lang said the following:

Dear Board of the ABPIA and Industry Friends and Associates,

There will be a board meeting of the ABPIA tomorrow at three o’clock Eastern standard time. More details will be covered at that time among board members, but I would like to share some news that has just occurred.

Our counsel, Craig Hilliard , and I just returned from a court hearing with Judge Wolfson at The Federal Court, Trenton, NJ.

 We have been given a landslide of support by the court.

Today was the return date based on a lawsuit filed against the first 40+ defendants. Of course, none of these defendants from China appeared before the judge.

The judge is extremely sympathetic to our cause and made it very clear in her decision that she will support every effort. She actually commented to Mr. Hilliard that she understands how serious this is and she feels extremely bad for every hard-working, legitimate company and person working in this industry.

She has allowed us carte blanche latitude in terms of allowing Mr. Hilliard to write the order converting the TRO into an injunction. Beyond that, we do not have to jump through hoops to add any additional websites to the ruling. We can add websites at will and avoid any lengthy motions to edit defendants.

 I heard her tell Mr. Hilliard that she is going to give him the widest berth possible in terms of those we can go after, including the websites, the operators of the sites, the service providers as well as anyone in the food chain from shippers financial institutions that supply support to aid and abet these counterfeiters. She instructed Mr. Hilliard to write the document she will sign it immediately.

I cannot begin to explain to you how powerful today’s ruling is. This judge went above and beyond to communicate sympathy to both Mr. Hilliard and myself during this interchange. We brought with us examples of counterfeit dresses as well as the originals. We had Mon Cheri and Maggie Sotterro dresses with us and she was exasperated when she saw the difference between the originals  and the counterfeits. We explained to her how the customers are being cheated, how customs is being cheated and how all of our companies and businesses are dramatically affected by this scourge to the industry.

I am sharing this e-mail with everyone on this list, including those of you that are not on the board of the ABPIA. We have worked very hard as a board to achieve the status we reached   today. The fight is not over and will continue for quite some time–many people said we would not get this far and we proved the opposite . Let’s move on to finish this fight.

I need help from everyone at this point. We need more than 350 members in ABPIA. I need the media, the marts, the manufacturers, the sales reps and the retailers that have yet to join the organization to step up to the plate and become members. The industry must be represented by the broadest number of participants possible. We will need it in terms of our lobbying power with the government in Washington as well as to continue to generate dues to allow the legal firm to continue its work. We have raised approximately $250,000 and to date have spent about 75,000 and legal work. As you know, the law firm absorbed the first $60,000 in expense by not charging us anything up until the suit was filed. The $75,000 has been incurred since the filing of the suit up until this point over the past six months. I want to be able to continue to make sure that our efforts are never hampered due to cash flow. We have made the dues very reasonable for everyone in this fight and it needs to be supported by everyone.

I will ask every entity copied on this e-mail to do their part. If you have not become a member of ABPIA please consider doing so now. If you are capable of e-mail blasting or speaking to your constituencies, I hope that you will refer them to ABPIA and ask them to join as well.

Progress has been great even before today. PayPal has frozen over $60,000 in funds that were scheduled to be sent offshore just from the original 40 defendants. Now we will add over 2000 more and you will see a great change in the ability of these websites to continue to steal from us. We will be relentless in our effort and today’s victory just reinforces to everyone that the fight is a worthy one. If I had a video of how sympathetic this judge was I think you would all be very impressed. I indicated to the judge at somewhere between 500 and 600,000 units representing as much as $300 million in sales were sucked out of the industry last year she was aghast. She realized the magnitude of the problem and so forcefully indicated that she will work with us. She even took Mr. Hilliard to a sidebar conversation indicating that she would work very hard to help him in this battle should he run up any obstacles with defendants. She indicated to Mr. Hilliard that from our testimony today she can glean that irreparable harm is being done to all companies. She asked Mr. Hilliard to work on angles for what those damages and demands for those damages could amount to. Again, a watershed of support will be coming from this federal judge.

No one likes to sit in the courtroom, but I have to tell you, today was totally enjoyable. Hearing these results and the actions the judge is willing to take is nothing short of wonderful gift to the industry.

ABPIA board members, you will receive a dial-in number for our call tomorrow at 3 PM shortly. For everyone else on this list is not a board member, I want to thank you for your support in the past and in the future.

I want to extend a special thank you to two people that have worked tirelessly to bring about the results achieved today. First, I want to thank Roanna from TJ Formal’s for her effort to identify the list of offending sites. I cannot begin to tell you the legwork in detail with which she conducted her research ferreting out those that are true counterfeiters incapable of being stopped versus fringe sites. Secondly, I want to thank Mr. Hilliard for his support and his friendship in this fight. He is a true friend to the industry.

Steve Lang

Lang would not elaborate on how he feels critics will take the newZ but did say he does not count on any of them to offer help. Instead he plans on continuing the efforts calling the win a single battle in a long and costly war.

Currently 72% of responses to an eWedNewz poll says the wedding industry has a fair-to excellent chance of winning the war against online piracy. 25% feels there is a poor to impossible chance of winning.

 

What do you say?

 

 

 

eWedNewz

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Filed Under: Breaking Newz, bridal, Bridal Dresses, Bridal Shops, eWedNewz, eWedNewz Exclusive, General News, Ongoing Story Coverage, Ongoing Story Investigation, Poll, The Internet, wedding industry, wedding websites Tagged: , , ,

The Wedding Business Rocked by Market Facts and Truth

Posted on December 27, 2012 Written by Leave a Comment

 

By Paul Pannone

In the closing days of 2012 the wedding business is buzzing because of newZ involving major companies who are bailing out of the business, bringing investors in to shoulder the financial burden and responsibility of trying to run a profitable business in the shrinking wedding market.

Yesterday’s story, The Wedding Business in Worse Shape than First Thought, drew reaction in all social media formats and plenty of private response from industry veterans who would like to dispute the newZ– but can’t.

 

 ”I’ll also bet that few if any of the existing US manufacturers close this year or next, the number will represent an insignificant percentage of the total. Is there anyone out there who will take the bet?” says Jim Duhe.

 

Jim Duhe gave his usual response in his own style saying;

 ”Your story isn’t a cheerful launch pad for the start of the new year. Certain aspects may or may not be accurate but I’m not alone in refusing to accept that the sky isn’t falling — at least not quite yet.  The average age of couples who wed has increased each decade since the turn of the 20th century.  When I joined the bridal industry in the 1970′s, we advised advertisers that “brides are older, better educated, and more affluent than ever before in history.”  It was a documented fact in the 1970′s.  It was equally true in the 1980′s.  It was true in the 1990′s.  It was true in the first decade of the 21st century.  It’s still true today.

However, age, education, and affluence don’t necessarily mean that a death knell is replacing wedding bells or that traditional weddings no longer represent a preferable life style choice for a meaningful number of Americans. Research conducted by Bridal Guide and all other publications as well as by prominent on line bridal sites like The Knot indicates that the number of destination weddings that take place in foreign countries is substantial.

Because foreign countries are not required to report the number of US citizens who marry to the Departments of Health, Education, and Welfare, it’s difficult/virtually impossible to determine the exact number of Americans who marry annually.   Therefore, it’s difficult/virtually impossible to verify that the total number of American weddings has declined substantially in recent years.  Regardless, many people who select to have a destination wedding continue to purchase bridal apparel in this country. They still create wedding gift registries in this country.

Long range business success requires much more than keeping up with trends. It’s essential to run one step (or more) ahead of them.  Conceptually, the challenges to bridal retailers created by online bridal apparel sales in 2013 aren’t  dramatically different from those offered by direct mail purchases (JC Penney, Sears, et.al.) in the 1980′s.  However, direct mail bridal apparel had an Achilles heel that online retailers don’t have: return policies.  The vast majority of online sales are generated by companies that are headquartered in foreign countries.  These companies can’t be forced to comply with US laws regarding merchandise returns.

Because the majority of China/direct sites offer positive consumer reviews (that may or may not be complete fabrications) consumers are lulled into a sense of security in their buying decision.  Unfortunately, prominent “money back guarantees” offered by China/direct companies generally are unenforceable.  There’s little if anything that a consumer can do to secure a refund for merchandise that is unacceptable or substandard.   Unlike complaints posted on Google, Wedding Wire, and others sites, there is no place for a consumer to publicize a complaint about a China/direct web site purchase.  It’s a perfect storm for China/direct sites:  on site comments are consistently positive; there’s no way for anyone to complain publicly.

Frankly, I don’t have answers to many of the questions that plague independent bridal retailers or tuxedo rental specialists.  However, that doesn’t mean that answers don’t exist.  It may well be that the number of existing independent bridal apparel stores will suffer from attrition. That’s a distinct possibility.  However,  I’ll bet you that new bridal retailers will launch in 2013, 2014, 2015, and beyond.

Seasoned bridal industry experts predicted that there were far too many bridal manufacturers — that there would be a “fall out” in the 1970′s — in the 1980′s — in the 1990′s — in 2000.  These predictions continue today. I’ll bet that there will be more bridal brand names in 2013 than there were in 2012.  There probably will be even more in 2014.   I’ll also bet that few if any of the existing US manufacturers close this year or next, the number will represent an insignificant percentage of the total. Is there anyone out there who will take the bet?”, said Duhe.

Duhe’s statement started strong but seemed to fall asleep by its end. So did that of Christine Boulton, who called to discuss the story. Boulton proposed there are clients who are doing well in the wedding business. We never suggested there weren’t. But Boulton could not argue there are fewer wedding industry professionals doing well than there are doing terrible. In fact none of the discussions could challenge any of the central points of the story. Simply put, the increasing challenges against a shrinking (traditional) market will not lead to a happy ending.

The story dates back to 2009 when companies like David’s Bridal sought positive data, wanting to know when the wedding industry would recover. No such information existed but through hocus-pocus hypotheses (guessing) there would be a spring-back in the wedding business. To date it doesn’t seem likely.

An ongoing eWedNewz investigation concludes the data failed to include variables, including the languishing economy that will continue to plague a full recovery in spending for traditional wedding goods and services. The results, exacerbated by growing competition in all areas of the wedding business, dilutes the ability to command higher prices from consumers. The decline of over four years with no end in sight resulted in decisions by major wedding companies, including owners of David’s Bridal, Leonard Green and Associates, to divest themselves from a majority stake in the wedding business.

The statement is supported by an overnight shift since the story released. An ongoing poll feels the wedding business is deteriorating (29%), stuck in neutral (15%) or is yet to reach the bottom (13%).

What do you say?

 

 

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2012

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