David's Bridal, the nation's leading bridal and special occasion dress authority, announced today their partnership with retailer JOANN Stores to produce 50,000 non-surgical masks a week to some of the nation's leading hospital systems and senior living facilities. As the demand for medical materials skyrockets, the two brands pledge to donate their teams' time and materials to quickly supply healthcare workers with protective gear.
"It's such a privilege to support frontline medical personnel who are so selflessly fighting this pandemic. David's Bridal is actively committed to protecting these heroic individuals and we are deeply grateful for the partnership with JOANN to make this happen," said Jim Marcum, David's Bridal Chief Executive Officer. "Aside from being able to fulfill thousands of orders every week, at David's we have been looking for ways to leverage our supply chain capabilities to support thousands of frontline workers and local municipalities all over the country in obtaining Personal Protective Equipment. We are honored to do our part in providing protective masks to the medical facilities who are so critically in need at this time."
Beginning last week, the distinguished alterations specialists at David's Bridal, among the largest alternations teams in the US, went to work in 258 of their retail store locations across the United States to start sewing the protective masks. JOANN provided all fabric and medically endorsed patterns, and the masks will be produced according to the guidelines provided by the CDC. David's Bridal's alterations specialists will be producing the masks while observing appropriate social distancing guidelines, and the first 50,000 units are expected to ship to the medical facilities by the end of this week.
"It is an amazing thing to see how many individuals, groups and companies are stepping up to help in this time of crisis," said Wade Miquelon, President & CEO of JOANN. "We are proud to be part of the solution to the severe shortage of protective equipment, and this partnership furthers our mission to make 100 million masks to help stop the spread of COVID-19. By combining the talent of David's Bridal alterations specialists with our fabric and supplies, we have the opportunity to quickly get tens of thousands of masks to healthcare facilities in desperate need."
During the Covid-19 crisis, hospitals and medical facilities are facing an extreme shortage of protective gear and the two retailers are working together to help. The partnership between David's Bridal and JOANN Stores was created to assist in the immediate need of materials for medical personnel and those who are working on the front lines of this ongoing pandemic. David's Bridal stated that they realize they are in a unique position to be able to address this crucial need during a global health crisis and encourages any medical facilities in need of masks to reach out to their corporate team at mediarequests@dbi.com.
