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David's Bridal earlier this week filed a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey to have its Chapter 11 case dismissed.

Why it matters: The wedding and formal wear retailer avoided liquidation and is on the verge of emerging from its second bankruptcy within the last five years.

It also delivered all the dresses that brides ordered during its bankruptcy restructuring process, CEO Jim Marcum tells Axios.

What's happening: After closing a sale on July 21 to Cion Investment Corp. (NYSE: CION), there are no assets left to distribute to creditors, per court filings.

What's next: A hearing on the motion is set for Aug. 29.

Catch up fast: The company conducted a going-concern auction process in an effort to find a buyer that would preserve the business.

Ultimately, Cion injected $20 million in the business to fund growth.

Details: The slimmed-down version of David's Bridal will have 195 stores and  7,000 employees, versus 295 locations and 10,000 employees before the bankruptcy, Marcum says.

He says its term debt was reduced to approximately $42 million, from about $218 million.

Bank of America, which is providing the company with a $50 million revolving credit line, took $20 million worth of borrowings on the retailer's ABL and rolled that into a $20 million term loan facility, Marcum says.

Those 195 stores generated about 90% of David's Bridal's EBITDA, he adds.

Of note: Cion is taking a long-term view on its hold and does not have a 12- to 24-month exit timeline, Marcum says.

What they're saying: The retailer will spend the next few months ensuring customers know it's still in business — and preparing for wedding season, which runs January through May, Marcum says.

As a result, he expects the company to return to growth next year.

There will be a renewed focus on the company's digital or omnichannel efforts, particularly Pearl, the new wedding planning platform and marketplace launched in January.

It also plans to add partnerships, which it is holding discussions on now and could include shop-in-shops.

It already has one with Men's Wearhouse, which provides men with tuxedos.

Zoom in: The opening price point for a wedding dress at the company is $199 and goes as high as $2,000, though the average bridal dress sells for $600, Marcum says.

Because David's Bridal is vertically integrated, both manufacturing and owning all of its own brands, it can pass those savings on to customers, he says.

That also helps keep the retailer on top of trends, such as the casualization of weddings.

The bottom line: "David's is back," Marcum says, adding, "Weddings are not going away."

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to note Cion invested $20 million to fund growth. It did not swap debt for equity.

David's Bridal CEO on emerging from bankruptcy

The wedding and formal wear retailer is on the verge of emerging from Chapter 11.

Illustration of a gavel on top of a wedding cake.

Bankruptcy

David&#x27;s Bridal <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="earlier this week" data-vars-click-url="https://ecf.njb.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_multidocs.pl?caseid=1098240&amp;arr_de_seq_nums=2726&amp;magic_num=MAGIC&amp;pdf_header=&amp;pdf_toggle_value=2&amp;arr_de_seq_nums=2726&amp;create_roa=&amp;bates_format=&amp;dkt=&amp;got_receipt=1" data-vars-content-id="f190c016-140f-453e-ab41-2203b7eff208" data-vars-headline="David&#x27;s Bridal CEO on emerging from bankruptcy" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://ecf.njb.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_multidocs.pl?caseid=1098240&amp;arr_de_seq_nums=2726&amp;magic_num=MAGIC&amp;pdf_header=&amp;pdf_toggle_value=2&amp;arr_de_seq_nums=2726&amp;create_roa=&amp;bates_format=&amp;dkt=&amp;got_receipt=1" target="_blank">earlier this week</a> filed a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey to have its Chapter 11 case dismissed.Why it matters: The wedding and formal wear retailer avoided liquidation and is on the verge of emerging from its second bankruptcy within the last five years.

David's Bridal CEO on emerging from bankruptcy

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