Men's Wearhouse Blames Poor Performance on Crazy Brides

Fear of the number 13 has put Men's Warehouse's numbers in the red

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Chain menswear store Men's Warehouse has recently run into some hard times in 2013, noting poor sales for the year overall. So what's the cause of the decrease of sales? They're claiming superstitious brides who won’t get married in 2013.

Triskaidekaphobia is the scientific term for the superstition surrounding the number 13 and, according to CEO Doug Ewert, it's an irrational fear of the number 13 that caused brides to hold off on setting a wedding in 2013—hurting tuxedo sales and rentals in the process.

"Historically, we’ve seen numeric anomalies in the calendar effect when brides choose their wedding date, and we believe that the number 13 in 2013 is causing a small, but meaningful number of brides to avoid getting married this year,” said Ewert.

It's not even Men's Warehouse that has showed lower numbers in 2013, the wedding industry as a whole has provided bigger discounts for the year to convince brides to worry less about bad luck and more about getting down the aisle.

It seems that 13 is more unlucky for Men's Warehouse than it is for superstitious brides.

[via The Wall Street Journal]

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