bride
The Men’s Wearhouse CEO blames superstitious brides (not grooms) for the chain's lousy wedding-related sales this year. Reuters

Men’s Warehouse reported lousy sales this year, and what’s to blame, according to CEO Doug Ewert? Superstitious brides.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Men’s Wearhouse Inc. reported sales for the 2013 calendar year so far are down by 10 percent, and Ewert blames “numerical anomalies,” specifically triskaidekaphobia, or fear of the number 13.

Ewert said that many people are afraid to get married in the year 2013 because it could mean bad luck. So for Men’s Wearhouse, he asserts, that superstition has translated into poor tuxedo sales and rentals for grooms, hence the Houston-based company’s poor performance overall.

He told analysts in a conference call Thursday, according to WSJ:

“Moving back to our current results, we now have visibility into approximately 90 percent of the expected tuxedo rental revenue for the year, and we’re forecasting a low-single-digit sales increase. We are aware of widespread negative results impacting the wedding industry this year. We believe this is mostly a timing shift. Historically, we’ve seen numeric anomalies in the calendar affect 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. It’s reassuring to see a significant increase in advance reservation for 2014 wedding, though.”

While this is a common fear for many, and a viable explanation for a slump in sales, Ewert put all the blame on the brides, which has angered many women.

“So ... Men's Wearhouse sales are down because ppl with lady parts are silly and superstitious? Sigh,” Twitter user @ZaMinn wrote.

"Men's Warehouse [sic] Blames Terrible Sales on Women. #nowordsforturds,” Twitter user @amandacaswell wrote.

In January, BBC reported that many wedding-supplier companies were offering discounts for those planning to get married in 2014 if they moved their weddings to 2013. The initial report, unlike the Men’s Wearhouse sales report, though, said 2013 would be a “robust year” for weddings.