May Groom for June Brides

The May Department Stores Co. (St. Louis), which began dressing brides in 2000 with the purchase of the David's Bridal chain, is now going after the groom market. It has announced the acquisition of After Hours Formalwear (Norcross, Ga.) for an undisclosed amount of cash. The 242-store chain will operate as part of the David's Bridal division.

After Hours is the largest tuxedo rental and sales retailer in the United States, with annual sales of more than $110 million. It operates its stores in 19 states under the After Hours Formalwear, Mitchell's, Small's and Sempliner's Tuxedo World banners.

“After Hours is a highly strategic complement to our David's Bridal business,” said May chairman and ceo Gene Kahn. “There are tremendous marketing and other business synergies between David's stores, After Hours'stores and the wedding registry business in our department store divisions.” That division, the second-largest department store chain in the U.S., operates 440 stores in 44 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico under the Lord & Taylor, Hecht's, Strawbridge's, Foley's, Robinsons-May, Filene's, Kaufmann's, Famous-Barr, L.S. Ayres, The Jones Store and Meier & Frank nameplates.

“The young customer is a key growth segment for our department stores and is the primary customer for both David's and After Hours,” said Kahn. “This acquisition is a great opportunity to broaden our appeal customers whose weddings are often their first interaction with our department stores, particularly the home merchandise areas.”

Joseph Doyle, ceo of After Hours, will continue in that position, reporting to David's Bridal president and ceo Robert Huth, and will also continue to operate from the company's current Atlanta-area offices.