It is for real. They usually want like 800 to 1k a month to give you there mailing list and display your work. If you are lower end it can be a good deal. If you are higher end it doesn't do much good.
i was a bridesmaid recently and our dresses were from david's. they had a display up from with some cheesy photog's cards (brandy snifter style) pimping david's new "wedding packages" and consulting service.
i would guess that you'd be paid a la Bella or The Pros, etc.
She specifically said there is no cost to me, which I found kind of surprising.
Price wise, I'm average for my market (based on what I see at bridal shows) or maybe $100-200 under the guys that have been doing it for 15-20 years.
But, this Davids is on teh edge of 2 counties - mine, rural and a $2000-2500 wedding photo bill is average, and the county the city sits in where the average runs about $1000 higher.
About 80-90% of the brides I now shoot get their dresses at Davids - they come in the dress bag with Davids on it so it's obvious.
I asked a David's store in my area what it took to have my cards/info in the store and it was a process. First you had to apply, then if you were accepted it cost like $500 a month to display. And you could only have certian sized materials and those had to be approved by the manager/corporate. It didnt sound worth it.
That was my first bad move in the wee months of my wedding business. It is the walmart of bridal gown shops, so, almost all of them are the bargain basement price shoppers.
I got one bride . . . it paid for the 1 year I was with them, had a $350 month fee. It allowed me a mailing list, set up a display and hang prints in the local store. Complete waste of my time, but I was naive!
