One of the consequences of living in more austere times when it comes to personal finance is that the average person spends less on things they used to go big on. That can mean buying a smaller car, buying a more modest home, or having a less expensive wedding. Less expensive weddings are very bad news for David's Bridal. Not only are they selling less, but they're also due to repay a $520m loan in 2019 and a further £270m in 2020. Recognizing they're on the edge of a cliff they've appointed a new CEO in Scott Key, and his first big job will be to postpone or restructure those debt repayments.
No sooner had Key taken his seat than global commercial credit reference agency S&P put the boot into him by reducing the company's credit rating. The options for refinancing or rearranging those debts were sharply reduced, and a whole new strategy might be required of David's Bridal is going to make it into the 2020s.