Q&A: David’s Bridal CEO Kelly Cook discusses chain’s tech transformation
A leading bridal and special occasion dress retailer is upgrading its enterprise with leading-edge technology.
Chain Store Age recently had a conversation with Kelly Cook, CEO of David's Bridal, about her company’s wide-ranging effort to enhance operations and better meet the needs of customers across every channel with technology innovation. Cook took the reins of David's Bridal in April 2025, after serving as the company’s president of brand, technology and finance.
How can retailers make the brick-and-mortar store relevant to connected shoppers?
Retailers should embrace a ‘tech sandwich’ approach. High-tech experiences online at the start and end of the journey, with the in-person store experience remaining central.
[READ MORE: David’s Bridal expands ‘store of the future' to greater Boston area]
The store is where customers connect emotionally and physically with the product, trying on dresses, engaging with friends and family, and creating memorable moments. Tech should complement, not replace, that ritual, making the store a place of experience rather than just a transaction.
What role does agentic AI play in David's Bridal's tech transformation strategy?
Agentic AI is helping us tackle one of the wedding industry’s oldest headaches – stressful, fragmented planning – by putting the bride and groom front and center. It’s the engine behind everything we do, helping couples navigate the 300 tasks that go into planning a wedding without losing their minds.
At the heart of this is Pearl Planner, our first-of-its-kind AI-powered platform. This isn’t your old-school checklist or a Pinterest board scattered across the internet. Pearl Planner is smart, adaptive, and completely personalized. It learns what couples care about – their style, priorities, pace, and budget – and evolves with them in real time.
It handles the details: budgets, timelines, vendor recommendations, mood boards, auto-generated communications, and even wedding websites. It takes the guesswork out of planning, replaces spreadsheets with clarity, and helps couples make confident decisions at every step.
The bottom line is that agentic AI makes planning less stressful, more fun, and fully aligned with each couple’s vision. And for us at David’s Bridal, it lets us deliver that same personalized, frictionless experience at scale both online and in the store.
How is David's Bridal leveraging video and other media?
Video is one of the most powerful ways brides dream, discover, and decide, so we’ve built an ecosystem where content actually drives action. Through Love Stories by David’s and our broader Pearl Media Network, we’re reaching over 20 million viewers a month with real wedding videos, streaming content, and social, podcasting.
Every piece of content is connected to planning tools, vendors, and shoppable moments. Inspiration doesn’t just live on a screen; it converts. Recently, we announced the upcoming launch of "Breaking Bridal," our first original programming series, which follows real couples making bold, deeply personal wedding decisions.
As I like to say, tradition isn’t disappearing - it’s being personalized. Couples aren’t checking boxes anymore, they’re breaking them. Episodes have begun rolling out on YouTube and streaming platforms like Sling, Roku, Tubi, and Amazon Prime Video, and every story connects back to planning tools, vendors, and commerce inside our ecosystem.
Inspiration fuels planning. Planning fuels purchasing. Purchasing fuels the community. That’s how we sit at the intersection of content, culture, and commerce, and why video isn’t just storytelling for us, it’s strategy.
We also recently launched David’s Style Squad, which turns our customers, creators, and employees into a creator-led commerce engine. Authentic content fuels planning, planning fuels commerce, and commerce fuels community. That’s the flywheel. And that’s how we bridge digital and in-store in a way that actually drives growth.
What advice would you give retailers trying to stay relevant with Gen Z shoppers?
Know your strengths and double down on them. Be someone’s 'shot of whiskey,' not everyone’s cup of tea. Build immersive, personalized, and digitally native experiences. Surround yourself with a team that inspires growth and innovation, and don’t take yourself too seriously – balance rigor with creativity and fun. For Gen Z, experiences, authenticity, and simplicity matter as much as the product itself.
Are there any tech transformation plans for 2026 you can share?
There’s definitely more to come in 2026, and we’re excited to keep you in the loop. We’ll continue leveraging AI and other advanced technology to simplify the journey across every touchpoint, both online and in-store. At the end of the day, our job is to de-stress the bride and make magic feel effortless.
