Inside David's Bridal's post-bankruptcy turnaround

This week on the Modern Retail Podcast, special projects editor Melissa Daniels sits down with David's Bridal CEO Kelly Cook to go behind the scenes of the company's post-bankruptcy turnaround plan. The roughly 76-year-old U.S. retailer is known for its wedding gowns and formalwear. But it’s had a challenging time staying solvent in recent years and filed for Chapter 11 in November 2018, and again in April 2023. The company's retail footprint has gone from more than 300 stores to around 150 today. Cook took on the CEO role about one year ago and has shepherded changes under the "Aisle to Algorithm" transformation plan to help reposition the company as a digitally driven brand that offers more than just gown sales, including wedding planning assistance through its Pearl Planner service. Their conversation gets into: How AI is helping David's reposition itself, establish internal efficiencies to acquire customers The in-store upgrades it's making to provide a more omnichannel experience The morale and culture challenges a business faces after filing for bankruptcy