CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The wedding bells will soon be silenced at a long-time Charlottetown business.
After 40 years of helping to make bridal dreams come true, the current owner of The Wedding Place on Kensington Road has decided to close the doors.
“We’ve just been seeing a decline in the last couple of years in sales and we’re noticing that things have changed,’’ said Tracey Dooley, who has been operating The Wedding Place for the past six years. “A lot of girls are ordering their (products) online.’’
Cecil Fraser opened the business in 1979 across from the People’s Cemetery with business partner Ada Drummond. He switched partners in 1998, going into business with Judy Holland. Fraser moved the business just down the road, to 101 Kensington Rd. in 2000.
“I’ve been retired six years and I noticed a decline in the industry back then,’’ Fraser said. “I noticed it in a number of store closures throughout the Maritimes of wedding shops. It’s the entire bridal industry.
“The prom industry was a big part of the business at one time, but it has severely declined because of the internet. It’s huge. Girls are going online and are finding dresses online and ordering them.’’
Dooley said Fraser was up front with her when she took over the business, warning her that sales were declining. Fraser had stopped selling prom dresses altogether and said the tuxedo business was all but gone.
Did you know?
- There is an average of 700 weddings on P.E.I. each year
- There are six stores on P.E.I. that sell wedding clothes
Dooley said she decided to give prom sales another try but put up the white flag three years later.
“The decline (in sales) had already started when I bought (the business), and it’s just gotten heavier in the last three years,’’ she said.
Kelly Moorehead, who owns Perfect Pear Bridal Inc. on Queen Street in Charlottetown, said there’s definitely been a trend to online sales when it comes to prom and semi (formal) dresses.
“We knew that, so we got out of the prom (sales) and the semi-dresses ... so we focus on wedding dresses, mothers and bridesmaids (dresses),’’ Moorehead said. “We lose the occasional (customer to) online dresses for the bridesmaids, but a lot of brides won’t buy online.
“If you can buy a bridesmaid dress online for $150 and ours are $250, I totally understand if you’ve got eight bridesmaids (in your wedding party). But they’re not going to buy their wedding dress (online).’’
Kathy Caseley, whose family has operated Caseley’s Bridal Boutique in Kelvin Grove for the past 35 years, said they try to work with good suppliers who help them compete on price with what is offered online, while still offering top quality.
The bridal industry has certainly taken some hits. Alfred Angelo Bridal, one of the world’s largest manufacturers and retailers of wedding dresses for 75 years, filed for bankruptcy in 2017.
“That’s a name everybody knew; probably the biggest in the industry,’’ Dooley said.
Dooley added that many customers will come in, try clothes on and openly admit they’re only there to find out what size they need so they can make the purchase online later.
“We appreciate the honesty, but the reality is, it’s hurting (us).’’
Fraser said in the end, online purchases hurt small, local business and, ultimately, the economy.
“We need the tax dollars here on the Island,’’ he said. “We need people working and we need people to buy their things on the Island. We won’t have tax dollars so government (can) build roads and everything else.’’
The Wedding Place employed nine people at its peak. Dooley has had as many as six employees and is now down to two staff.
Dooley has already contacted her customers who have standing orders and will make sure everyone is taken care of before closing.
“I will be here to ensure every single girl gets her dress to the last one.’’
The blowout sale has already begun. Products have been marked down 25 per cent and will continue from there.
Dooley anticipates closing in a couple of months.
