'Completion' Sales Lure Newlyweds To Buy the Gifts They Didn't Get
By Annie Groer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Within hours of returning from a Caribbean honeymoon two weeks ago, Jeffrey and Heather Young of Herndon eagerly tore into their wedding presents, checking off each wine goblet, cake pan and potholder chosen from their multiple bridal registries.
The next day, the newlyweds headed to the Williams-Sonoma in Reston to buy housewares they had hoped to receive but had not: four place settings of Belvedere dinnerware, four cereal bowls, a copper frying pan, copper cleaner and stainless steel serving spoons. The lure was a 10 percent discount the store offers couples for "unfulfilled" registry items for three months after they marry.
But the Youngs -- he's a videographer, she's an artist and writer -- were not finished.
Two days later the groom went solo to Tysons Corner for one of Hecht's twice-yearly sales for registered couples who had married during the past six months. Some 18,000 invitations -- complete with each couple's personal bar code --had gone out requesting the newlyweds' presence for a Nov. 8 shopping bonanza. Prices were cut 20 percent on nearly everything in the store's housewares department. That included china, crystal, flatware and tabletop items from such high-end lines as Waterford, Kate Spade and Vera Wang, which rarely, if ever, go on sale. It also included more prosaic bed linens, cookware, kitchen gadgets, even Christmas decorations.
Young left with a Cuisinart toaster and three washcloths, after ordering four Oneida stainless steel place settings and a matching hostess set. (The sale included free shipping on all special orders, but excluded furniture, mattresses, rugs and electronics.)
"We did it quickly because we wanted to set it all up," said Young, estimating he and his bride, both 22, saved about $100 at the two stores.
The Williams-Sonoma and Hecht's completion programs are part of a growing trend among national and regional retailers to court newlyweds in hopes of snagging them as loyal customers for years to come. From elaborate in-store parties to simple mailed reminders about discounted registry items, merchandisers such as Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, Macy's and Bloomingdale's are aggressively going after post-wedding spenders.
"It's putting a finish on a process that starts when the bride gets engaged. It's trying to help the bride and the store," said Millie Martini Bratten, editor in chief of Brides magazine, which has chronicled the American wedding industry since the 1930s.
Bridal registries are big business, generating $6 billion of the $55 billion spent on nuptials each year, according to the 2005 American Wedding Survey by the Fairchild Bridal group.
Time was when registries were strictly a pre-wedding service to help family and friends choose a gift for the engagement party, bridal shower or main event, Bratten said. The list of housekeeping essentials included fine china, crystal and silver, as well as informal dishes, glassware and cutlery; table and bed linens, vases, candlesticks and all manner of kitchen gear.
"If the bride doesn't do it when she is right off the wedding, typically other things take priority in your life," said Linda Lee, group vice president for bridal registry at Macy's corporate headquarters in New York. These days, grooms are taking a more active role, choosing pricey knives, top-quality pots and high-tech appliances. Stores have seen a now-or-never nest-feathering frenzy expand to include power tools, computers, camping gear and sporting equipment.
A generation of "more involved" grooms also prefers "alternative registries," noted Marilyn Oliveira, senior editor of http://www.weddingchannel.com/ , which offers online wedding lists for 20 retailers including Pier 1 and Tiffany & Co. Male favorites include REI for outdoor gear (think tents and kayaks) and honeymoon registries to defray the cost of the Big Trip.
Williams-Sonoma, the upscale, California-based cookware emporium, has had a wedding registry for 50 years. Now the nationwide chain, which does not hold storewide sales, also offers registered couples 10 percent off whatever they did not receive for 90 days after they tie the knot.
The West Coast stores recently added special postnuptial promotions. "We only started rolling out completion events this year and they haven't come East yet," said a company spokeswoman. "We host people on Sunday morning. They can exchange gifts, get new stuff and add to their lists. The events are so successful because the store is yours, just three or four couples. We cook you breakfast, you get lots of attention. People have time to get their questions answered, as opposed to doing something at 2 p.m. on a Saturday."
Macy's cuts 10 percent off most remaining registry items for three months after the wedding, and offers bonus items when the couple completes 10 place settings of china, flatware or stemware, says Lee. "The idea is to do it now when you are not distracted. That's when you think about those wonderful pots, or 'Do I really need that stand mixer?' "
Bloomingdale's gives couples a 10 percent break on registry items for six months after they marry. This year the chain also began hosting large events with InStyle magazine.
"We're not just saying come in and complete, we're saying join us for a great party. We do it on a weekday evening for 150 to 300 couples. They love the opportunity to purchase things at discount. You give them a little something extra, which is InStyle's book on entertaining," said Wendy Hare, Bloomingdale's New York-based registry director.
At the Hecht's event last week, a steady stream of the recently wed roamed the aisles clutching their registry lists, running their hands over plush towels, examining delicate stemware or earnestly discussing the need for espresso demitasses as well as cups and saucers.
"I really want a gravy boat," said Jennifer Puryear, 27, a project coordinator who married bank manager Steven Puryear, 26, in September. While they received the requested 19 pieces of Pyrex bakeware, a Copco teakettle and a five-piece margarita set, they really wanted those nine soup bowls and a vegetable bowl in their Noritake Sanderville service for 12, not to mention the last of the their Lennox Solitaire wine and iced beverage glasses.
"I probably would not have been motivated to go out and buy all this" without the discount, she said. But the credit-wary couple resisted an offer to save an additional 10 percent by opening a Hecht's charge account.
Arts administrator Nyla Louh, 24, and her accountant husband, Nick, 27, were also lured by savings on the gifts overlooked by wedding guests. An hour later, they left Hecht's with a blanket and two sets of bathroom rugs, and orders for Kate Spade china and beverage glasses. Total tab: $1,300, minus a $260 discount.
Might they be suffering from gift glut, or fear their taste may change in five years?
Not at all, said Nick Louh, noting the only issue may be "Oh, boy, where do we put everything in the house? Kate Spade was our everyday set of dishes that we will definitely use. We didn't think it was over the top. Nyla loves to entertain. She was so excited, because after Thanksgiving we will start. We both have huge families -- 300 of our 400 wedding guests were relatives and they are all local."
George Mason University graduate student Lauren Luck, 23 and her engineer husband, Robert, 24, were feted at five bridal showers before their 250-guest wedding, and received everything on their wish list. Theoretically, there was nothing left to "complete."
But she couldn't resist saving money on things not on the original registry. "Today I bought Christmas ornaments for the new house and a martini shaker and pitcher to go with some of the specialty barware we got. So we're all set up for entertaining. I also bought a case to store all our sterling flatware and a large centerpiece vase that goes with my china pattern."
It's enough to make a retailer want to break into a rousing rendition of the Wedding March.
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