CHICAGO — As the wedding industry prepares itself for a surge in weddings and ceremonies delayed as a result of the pandemic, CD One Price Cleaners has begun to offer wedding dress preservation as a new service at its 35 stores in the Chicago area.
In 2020, nearly half of couples (47%) across the nation postponed their wedding receptions to a later date, creating a boom of 2.6 million weddings projected for 2022.
In Chicago, weddings are expected to top 55K in 2022, a sizeable increase from 44K in 2021, according to The Wedding Report.
Jonathon Reckles, CD One's vice president of marketing, says the company expects a significant increase in dry cleaning formal clothes.
"The postponement of formal events and everyone's desire to be back together is creating a perfect storm of formal clothes cleaning requests, and we're still early in the wedding season," Reckles says. "To further capitalize on the sector growth and help meet our customer's growing needs, we have launched wedding gown preservation as a new service effective immediately."
Since opening its first store 20 years ago in Lincolnwood, IL, CD One Price Cleaners has established a one-price model. This new wedding dress preservation service will follow that same format, priced at a flat rate of $199.
Due to the delicate nature of wedding dresses, the garments must undergo a stringent process to be cleaned and preserved for years to come. Failing to clean and preserve a wedding dress can cause yellowing of the fabric, oxidation, mold and mildew, and permanent fabric damage over time.
CD One Price Cleaners operates 35 locally owned and operated franchise locations throughout the Chicago area and operates a total of 37 stores in four states.
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