BONANZA SALES Newlyweds are buying items they didn't get

Stores offer couples discounts on 'unfulfilled' registry items.
WASHINGTON POST
Within hours of returning from a Caribbean honeymoon two weeks ago, Jeffrey and Heather Young of Herndon, Va., tore into their wedding presents, checking off each wine goblet, cake pan and potholder chosen from their multiple bridal registries.
The next day, the newlyweds headed to the Williams-Sonoma in Reston, Va., to buy housewares they had hoped to receive but didn't: four place settings of Belvedere dinnerware, four cereal bowls, a copper frying pan, copper cleaner and stainless steel serving spoons. The lure was a 10 percent discount the store offers couples for "unfulfilled" registry items for three months after they marry.
But the Youngs -- he's a videographer, she's an artist and writer -- were not finished.
Two days later the groom went solo to one of Hecht's twice-yearly sales for registered couples who had married during the past six months. Some 18,000 invitations had gone out requesting the newlyweds' presence for a shopping bonanza.
Prices were cut 20 percent on nearly everything in the store's housewares department. That included china, crystal, flatware and tabletop items from such high-end lines as Waterford, Kate Spade and Vera Wang, which rarely, if ever, go on sale. It also included more prosaic bed linens, cookware, kitchen gadgets, even Christmas decorations.
Young left with a Cuisinart toaster and three washcloths, after ordering four Oneida stainless steel place settings and a matching hostess set. (The sale included free shipping on all special orders, except furniture, mattresses, rugs and electronics.)
Completion program
The Williams-Sonoma and Hecht's completion programs are part of a growing trend among national and regional retailers to court newlyweds in hopes of snagging them as loyal customers for years to come. From elaborate in-store parties to simple mailed reminders about discounted registry items, merchandisers such as Crate & amp; Barrel, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, Macy's and Bloomingdale's are aggressively going after post-wedding spenders.
"It's putting a finish on a process that starts when the bride gets engaged. It's trying to help the bride and the store," said Millie Martini Bratten, editor in chief of Brides magazine, which has chronicled the American wedding industry since the 1930s.
Original purpose
Time was when registries were strictly a pre-wedding service to help family and friends choose a gift for the engagement party, bridal shower or main event, Bratten said. The list of housekeeping essentials included fine china, crystal and silver, as well as informal dishes, glassware and cutlery; table and bed linens, vases, candlesticks and all manner of kitchen gear.
"If the bride doesn't do it when she is right off the wedding, typically other things take priority in your life," said Linda Lee, group vice president for bridal registry at Macy's corporate headquarters in New York. These days, grooms are taking a more active role, choosing pricey knives, top-quality pots and high-tech appliances. Stores have seen a now-or-never nest-feathering frenzy expand to include power tools, computers, camping gear and sporting equipment.
A generation of "more involved" grooms also prefers "alternative registries," noted Marilyn Oliveira, senior editor of www.weddingchannel.com, which offers online wedding lists for 20 retailers including Pier 1 and Tiffany & amp; Co. Male favorites include REI for outdoor gear (think tents and kayaks) and honeymoon registries to defray the cost of the Big Trip.
Ninety-day offer
Williams-Sonoma, the upscale, California-based cookware emporium, has had a wedding registry for 50 years. Now the nationwide chain, which does not hold storewide sales, also offers registered couples 10 percent off whatever they did not receive for 90 days after they tie the knot.
The West Coast stores recently added special postnuptial promotions. "We only started rolling out completion events this year and they haven't come East yet," said a company spokeswoman. "We host people on Sunday morning. They can exchange gifts, get new stuff and add to their lists."
Macy's cuts 10 percent off most remaining registry items for three months after the wedding, and offers bonus items when the couple completes 10 place settings of china, flatware or stemware, says Lee.
Bloomingdale's gives couples a 10 percent break on registry items for six months after they marry.