Bridal Times had the opportunity to speak with Ulrike Mandt, bridal shop owner of Brautmoden Renger in Ulm Germany, about her successful career in bridal fashion, the impact of the current pandemic on the economy, and her hopeful outlook for the future of the industry.
Many of us have seen you help to make brides dreams come true on the German version of “Say Yes to the Dress” television series. But not many of us know what inspired you to open your first bridal shop in 2007. Tell us about it.
The inclined reader would probably be expecting an answer like: “Since I was a little girl I have always been fascinated by wedding dresses and it has been my biggest dream to sell bridal wear”.
But honestly, I owe my current dream job, which I do with much passion, to a completely different background.
After completing training in retail, I got an engineering degree in textile technology with a focus on management. After completing my studies, I worked for a renowned textile machine engineering institute at RWTH Aachen for several years in research and development, and coordinated larger research projects. In addition to this activity, I also coordinated many of the institute’s own events.
After my husband finished his doctorates at RWTH Aachen at the end of 2005, he moved professionally to the Ulm area. And as it’s so often the case in life, I quit and moved away from Aachen with him.
However, since there are hardly any textile processing companies in Germany and there was unfortunately no adequate scientific position in the Ulm / Stuttgart area at the time, I was presented with the fate of unemployment or the pursuit of a significantly less qualified job.
So I decided to complete another one-year apprenticeship as a technically certified business economist at the IHK in Ulm. Meanwhile I was in my mid-thirties, highly qualified, married but still childless and had to find out that well paid management positions weren’t exactly “waiting” for me.
Infected with the “Bridal Gown Virus” from my own wedding in 2005, the thought matured in my mind: “If I can’t find a job that matches my skills, then I’ll just do my dream job myself.
Because of my textile affinity and necessary business background, I decided in 2007 to start my own small but fine bridal studio with secondhand bridal wear. However, it took a good three years for my bridal studio “Wedding & More” to get word of mouth and I was able to expand spatially and hire the first employees. At the end of 2015, I took the opportunity of taking over my biggest competitor in the Ulm area, the renowned Brautmoden Renger GmbH. In the meantime, my team consists of 20 employees and I am grateful for this happy decision.
Over the years, what would you say are key elements to a successful bridal shop?
In my opinion, you can only be successful in any business in the long term if you live the necessary passion and self-sacrificing dedication to your job. In relation to the bridal fashion sector, there should of course be a textile know-how, an absolute eye for the perfect fit, a feel for fashion, the joy of dealing with other people, but above all, a good solid business knowledge.
What are some highlights that you feel make Brautmoden Renger so unique?
The company Brautmoden Renger, which I have only just taken over in 2015, has been around for almost 40 years and is simply a synonym for bridal fashion far beyond the Ulm area. Therefore, there was no debate about changing the name at the time of the takeover. It happens to me almost every week that a future bride is looking for her dream dress with us and then the mother of the bride proudly shares that she also bought her dress from Renger many years ago. It always fills me with great joy that we can contribute to this tradition.
Can you tell us about your personal favorite wedding dress trend?
Every single dress that I choose for my range has to really convince me. The art of successfully selecting a range is to accept tastes other than your own. Personally, I particularly like the future 2021 collection of dresses with delicate long chiffon sleeves, which are often provided with button cuffs, so-called bishop’s sleeves.
With the arrival of COVID-19, how has pandemic affected your bridal shop?
The first early warning signals started a few weeks before the actual lockdown came and it was foreseeable that some production facilities in Asia could not restart production beyond the Chinese New Year. At this point in time, we were already extremely sensitive to reordering customer wedding gowns. So far, we have been able to hand over all the dresses to the brides, even if many have now canceled or postponed the wedding.
In the few days before the actual lockdown, we had as many wedding dresses ready to go as possible, as well as fittings, since we could not estimate at that time how long the shops would closed. We used the time of the closure to complete the tailoring of dresses, coordinate countless appointments over the phone and to comfort many sad brides, which we still have to do since re-opening. My main goal during this time without actual income was that none of my employees should be affected. Therefore, like many others, we have used our tailoring capacities to sew face masks. These were really sold through pharmacies at cost price to secure wages.
Despite the reopening of stores and the retail sector, our economic situation has not eased. Especially the uncertainty of the brides. The question of whether you can still celebrate your wedding as planned in the current situation still remains. Since one of my shops is located in Bavaria and the other in Baden-Württemberg, we are also in a region with a very high infection rate and there is a more careful approach to easing the restrictions, particularly with regard to private gatherings. The number of our planned fittings has already been cut in half with brides calling every day. Those who had weddings in July and August that postponed until September or those who cancelled.
From a business point of view, it is particularly painful that there are currently hardly any new appointment requests coming in for the next two to three months, or gradually being canceled if they made them some time ago. Many brides, who wanted to get married in September / October and still looking for a wedding dress, are now postponing the wedding to 2021 due to the uncertainty of the developments. What we are getting is now, are the first timid brides who won’t marry until 2021 anyway and are least looking for a mostly inexpensive dress for the civil wedding.
In my opinion, the next two to four months in particular will be the greatest challenge in our industry. This shows who has done well in the past and has enough liquidity to bridge this time. In addition, the first dresses of the new 2021 collection will be arriving by the suppliers, which will result in further capital requirements. Like most of our competitors in the industry, we are looking at this period with some tension. Due to personal arrangements and a good standing that has already been mentioned, we are nevertheless optimistic that we will get through this time with a few bruises.
What are some changes you had to make in your bridal shop to keep a safe environment?
Due to the fact that it is difficult for us to keep the required minimum distance when helping brides take off and put on wedding gowns, we pay particular attention to complying with the recommended requirements. Our customers are only allowed to come by appointment and have to use a stationary disinfection facility directly at the entrance area and enter with a face mask.
Further disinfection options are installed in every changing room, in the sanitary areas etc. Guest towels are replaced with paper towels and after each fitting, the appropriate changing rooms and sanitary facilities are disinfected. We also ventilate our sales rooms at regular intervals. For higher security, our employees only work with FFP 2 masks and are currently divided into two teams in the tailoring, and do not interchange in terms of the working process.
The number of accompanying persons has also been drastically regulated due to social distancing. So only brides are allowed to pick up the finished gowns and try them on alone. We have now set the number of guests to accompany for new gowns from one to two. We will continue to follow this for the foreseeable future.
Incidentally, this is the only positive effect that I can derive from this corona pandemic. Since then, the fittings as well as the pick up of the gowns have been much more relaxed than at times when many accompanying persons made “decisions” for the bride. Even our brides confirm this impression themselves.
In general, we should always be aware that this isn’t a 100% guarantee that there won’t be an infection.
Since the re-opening of businesses, retail has been struggling to get back on its feet. What is your viewpoint in bridal and what are your hopes for the future of the industry?
The future of the industry will certainly depend on the development of the next few months and the course of infections. Should there actually be a feared second wave in autumn / winter, and in the worst case another lockdown of business, many of us will probably not survive economically.
With a moderate, sensible and responsible adjustment of the conditions for private celebrations in combination with a “manageable” infection process, I see hope that the coming season, which normally starts in autumn, can be quite positive.
Ultimately, the situation will remain tense and difficult to predict until the introduction of a vaccine or an effective medication.
What would you advise or recommend to less experienced industry colleagues in the near future?
To give general advice in this situation would be presumptuous and would exceed my competence.
Ultimately, the future of each individual depends on many economic factors, the existing cost structure and the available liquidity, regardless of whether they have just been established or in business for a long time. Very successfully run businesses, which have heavily expanded and invested large sums could unfortunately experience difficulties since there is a completely different cost structure to manage, rather than a newly established bridal studio with own private rooms and without employees.
For my part, I have to be much more cautious this season with new goods that I have ordered than in previous years. For the sole reason that, like most of us, I probably have a much higher inventory than normal. Otherwise, I try to get as good information as possible about the current political developments and to look the future realistically, not pessimistically, and calmly.
You are also the organizer of the Ulmer Hochzeitstag (Ulm Wedding Day Fair). What can we expect for 2021?
To be honest, I cannot answer this question at the moment. The fair usually takes place on the second weekend in January and is one day long. Under my organization, it has grown steadily in recent years. In the meantime, the rented halls cover an area of approx. 5500 sqm. This year we had 116 exhibitors and just over 1500 visitors in one day. We clearly count as one of the major events division, which are completely prohibited until at least the end of August and the situation in January could also be viewed as critical. In consultation with the trade fair organizers, we will get together in autumn and exchange ideas about a possible new trade fair concept.
The entire event industry and trade fair landscape is currently facing many problems and is economically one of the hardest hit sectors in this pandemic.
But I am sure that there will be another Ulm wedding day. Even if this has to be done differently at least next year as usual.
What is your advice to brides who’s wedding has been cancelled in 2020?
Understandably, there is always a big disappointment for all newlyweds at the beginning. However, through conversations with the brides concerned, we heard that many reacted quickly and postponed their wedding to 2021 and are now all the more looking forward to this wedding next year.
With a little flexibility, an alternative date can be found.
Get in contact with your weddding location and choose a date, or even better, find two alternative dates together. A Friday or Sunday would also be possible or even a public holiday within the week, since many Saturdays will already be occupied in the coming year and the selection of Saturdays will be minimal.
Get together with all selected wedding service providers to find out if they have time on the alternative dates. Again, consider whether a Friday or a Sunday is an option, because on these days the probability is very high that many service providers are available.
It is also important to clarify possible costs and to conduct open communication with the location and wedding service providers. Often there aren’t or only very small cancellation / postponement fees in the event of a postponement. If you leave down payments in this way, you can usually have them credited to the new date and the previous calculation can generally remain almost complete. By the way, you will also be supporting your chosen service providers, because many of them currently have had a 100% loss of earnings.
Looking back on success and challenges, what are you most proud of?
Of course it makes me happy and a little bit proud to look at my professional development over the past few years. Especially the rapid expansion 5 years ago through the takeover of Brautmoden Renger GmbH, I would never have dreamed of starting my own business.
In the past, there were often moments when I questioned myself. Whether I’m really up to the job, withstand the economic pressures and the responsibility for so many employees. And I’ve often doubted my leadership skills and felt weak inside.
But this current unimaginable crisis has shown me one thing, I am much stronger than I thought! When it really matters, I keep a cool head, act with foresight and don’t lose heart. I strengthen and reassure my employees and give them a feeling of security.
And I’m really proud of that!
We would like to thank Ulrike Mandt of Brautmoden Renger for this interview.