ll love david s bridal type private industry retailing founded 1950 headquarters conshohocken pennsylvania united states products clothing wedding dresses prom gowns and other formal wear parent clayton dubilier & rice website davidsbridal.com david s bridal is a clothier in the united states that specializes in wedding dresses prom gowns and other formal wear . it is the largest american bridal store chain . 1 david s bridal currently operates more than 300 stores in 45 states canada and puerto rico . it was acquired by may department stores in 2000 which was in turn bought by federated department stores the parent company of department store giant macy s in 2005 . on november 17 2006 david s bridal was purchased by leonard green & partners on the same day that federated also divested itself of after hours formalwear . on october 11 2012 clayton dubilier & rice announced the completion of its acquisition of david s bridal inc. 2 history edit beginning in 1945 david reisberg decided that instead of making wedding gowns for his personal pleasure he should sell them to others for a profit . in 1950 david s bridal first started out as a small bridal boutique in fort lauderdale florida . the soon to be well known bridal chain all started as a brainchild of david reisberg hence the name david s bridal . in 1972 floridian phillip youtie purchased the salon with optimistic ideas . between that time and 1988 youtie successfully grew his investment from a single store to 18 boutiques . many of these boutiques were leased bridal stores that were in department stores under the david s bridal name . steven erlbaum a late childhood friend of youtie eventually joined forces with youtie to help bring david s bridal to all 50 states . erlbaum having preexisting experience from creating the philadelphia based store chain mr. good buys now defunct was able to give knowledge to youtie . erlbaum and youtie eventually incorporated the company structuring it for the national market . a warehouse was built in hallandale beach florida near fort lauderdale . the corporate headquarters are now based in conshohocken pennsylvania . 1 stores at this time stocked only sample gowns in a standard size . youtie and erlbaum changed the store model in the late 1980s with this warehouse off interstate 95 where they stocked designer gowns discontinued dress and manufacturer over runs at below retail prices . this chain of bridal stores was like none of its kind . david s bridal was all about making a no frills shopping environment for those who need an expensive wedding dress for a fraction of the price . stores were not really comfortable but more plain and warehouse like . although there was little to no comfort in the stores brides to be could expect a bargain . years later as the business grew even larger and larger small stores were starting to go out of business while more david s bridal stores were being put into business . between 1994 and 1995 12 stores were added to the bridal corporation . in 1999 dabr went public with over 104 million in assets and selling 8 million shares . in 2000 the may department stores company bought david s bridal from youtie and erlbaum for 436 million . 1 by this time david s bridal was the largest retailer of bridal gowns and wedding related merchandise . on november 17 2006 david s bridal was purchased by leonard green & partners . david s bridal is now the only nationwide competitor of bridal stores . 1 one in four american brides are dressed by david s bridal . 1 david s bridal agreed to be acquired by the private equity firm clayton dubilier & rice in 2012 for a price around 900 million . 3 on october 11 2012 clayton dubilier & rice announced the completion of its acquisition of david s bridal inc. in a deal that valued the company at 1.05 billion . 4 references edit a b c d e mead rebecca 29 july 2008 . one perfect day the selling of the american wedding . new york penguin group . isbn 9780143113843 . retrieved 10 september 2016 . press release pdf . covert and kosman james and josh 23 august 2012 . happily ever after david s bridal is sold for about 900m . the new york post . retrieved 23 august 2012 . press release pdf . external links edit official website v t e leonard green & partners healthcare aspen dental ims health retail bj s wholesale club the container store david s bridal del taco equinox fitness j.crew jo ann stores neiman marcus petco rite aid sports authority tourneau whole foods market 1 http jobs.davidsbridal.com career areas corporate careers all job locations % 7c1 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title david % 27s bridal & oldid 743227112 categories clothing retailers of the united statesamerican companies established in 1950private equity portfolio companiesprivately held companies based in pennsylvania1950 establishments in floridacompanies based in conshohocken pennsylvania navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in 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