Local tuxedo chain gets hitched to bridal gown design business

LOVELAND – Early in his career as owner of Mister Neat’s Formalwear, Mark Burke ventured into the bridal gown business with the short-lived Nancy Ann Bridal store.

“I swore I would never do it again,” Burke recalled.

Some 20 years later, Burke’s had a change of heart.

Burke, who has built Mister Neat’s to 20 stores on the Front Range, making him the toast of the tuxedo rental business in Colorado, has returned to the bridal gown business.

This time, he thinks he has the right fit.

The Loveland-based company recently purchased Novia by Kellie, a bridal gown business that was previously a division of Burch & Hatfield Formal Shops, an Alabama-based tuxedo business.

Initially, the business will operate inside the Mister Neat’s store in Northglenn, where dress designer Kellie Burch has set up shop. Plans call for expanding the bridal division in the near future into Mister Neat’s locations in Denver, Colorado Springs and Northern Colorado.

The bridal business positions Mister Neat’s to serve both bride and groom in a given wedding. And the model seems to be effective. Sales at the Northglenn store are up 36 percent over the same time last year, a figure that Burke attributes primarily to the bridal division.

In fact, Burke thinks he can take the concept to a national audience. He intends to introduce the Novia by Kellie structure at tuxedo industry trade shows this summer. As planned, Mister Neat’s would help other stores set up bridal divisions on a consulting basis, and then be the source for dresses designed by Burch.

“We’ll sell dresses … for a little bit of margin,” Burke said. “Then we can also get a better deal from the factories.”

Designer the key

Burke’s return to the bridal business is due in part to the changing economics of the industry.

Twenty years ago, most dresses were made in North America and costs of production were much higher.

“Back then, the margins weren’t there,´ said Nancy Haboush, president of Mister Neat’s.

Overseas dress manufacturers today offer quality products at lower costs, and North American designers can work directly with the factories without intermediaries.

Furthermore, Mister Neat’s is not working with an outside designer who could dictate how many dresses must be committed to inventory. And inventory adds to the cost of doing business.

“With our own designer, we can control our own inventory,” Haboush explained.

Still, the key ingredient to the Mister Neat’s bridal venture is Burch, said Nancy Haboush, president of Mister Neat’s.

Active in tuxedo industry trade organizations, Burke and Haboush had become familiar with the owners of Burch & Hatfield Formal Shops and the Novia by Kellie label. Kellie Burch, married to Burch & Hatfield scion Chad Burch, started the dress business two years ago and was selling her line through the company’s eight stores.

The business was a chance for Kellie to express her own creative interests, and to bolster the business at Burch & Hatfield.

In time, when Kellie and Chad decided to invest more energy into the bridal business, they found a willing patron with Mister Neat’s and relocated to Colorado.

“There was an opportunity for growth, with our relationship with Mark and Nancy, and the backing they could give it,” Kellie Burch said. “It was more of a life decision, and it was better for the (dress) line.”

Novia by Kellie maintains an offering of 24 different dress designs, and brides-to-be work directly with the designer during the selection process.

“Our concept is one consultant working with one bride,´ said Haboush, who praised Burch for her delicate fitting-room manner.

“She has an incredible ability to make people feel good, that ‘This is your moment.'”

Market on the upswing

Apparently, this is the moment to be in the bridal-wear business.

According to a survey titled “American Wedding Study 2006,” the amount spent on a wedding averages $27,852, nearly doubling the average expenditure in 1990. Furthermore, spending on bride and groom attire this year is expected to be 50 percent higher than in 1999.

Another feature of the climbing costs of weddings is the so-called “destination wedding,” in which couples get married in exotic resort settings. Mister Neat’s has also adapted to that trend, which now represents 16 percent of all weddings.

In January Mister Neat’s introduced for-sale menswear, which includes the linen suits that are popular for weddings in beach or mountain climates.

The for-sale offerings also serve the male customer who might come to the store to get fitted for a tuxedo, but could be attracted to shirt or jacket that’s on display.

“Say a groomsman comes to us for measurements for a wedding in Texas – we do that as a service,” Haboush said. “But while he’s here, we can ask him, ‘Do you need a suit for the rehearsal dinner?'”

Burke figures his stores serve about 100,000 men a year for tuxedos. He won’t have to invest much in marketing the for-sale line.

The for-sale clothing is currently available in six stores, and Burke expects to reach 14 stores by the end of the summer.

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