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                                                               EXHIBIT 99 (a)(8)

This announcement is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer
to sell Shares (as defined below). The Offer (as defined below) is made only by
the Offer to Purchase, dated July 10, 2000, and the related Letter of
Transmittal, and any amendments or supplements thereto, and is being made to all
holders of Shares. The Offer, however, is not being made to (nor will tenders be
accepted from or on behalf of) holders of Shares residing in any jurisdiction in
which the making of the Offer or the acceptance thereof would not be in
compliance with the securities, blue sky or other laws of such jurisdiction.
However, the Purchaser (as defined below) may, in its discretion, take such
action as it may deem necessary to make the Offer in any jurisdiction and extend
the Offer to holders of Shares in such jurisdiction. In those jurisdictions
where securities, blue sky or other laws require the Offer to be made by a
licensed broker or dealer, the Offer shall be deemed to be made on behalf of the
Purchaser by Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated ("Morgan Stanley" or the "Dealer
Manager") or one or more registered brokers or dealers licensed under the laws
of such jurisdiction. Notice of Offer to Purchase for Cash All Outstanding
Shares of Common Stock of David's Bridal, Inc. at $20.00 Net Per Share by Alpha
Omega Acquisition, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of The May Department Stores
Company Alpha Omega Acquisition, Inc., a Florida corporation (the "Purchaser")
and a wholly owned subsidiary of The May Department Stores Company, a Delaware
corporation ("Parent"), is offering to purchase all of the outstanding shares of
common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the "Shares"), of David's Bridal, Inc.,
a Florida corporation (the "Company"), at a purchase price of $20.00 per Share
(the "Offer Price"), net to the seller in cash, on the terms and subject to the
conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase, dated July 10, 2000 (the "Offer
to Purchase"), and in the related letter of transmittal (the "Letter of
Transmittal") (which, together with any amendments or supplements thereto,
collectively constitute the "Offer"). Tendering shareholders who have Shares
registered in their names and who tender directly to The Bank of New York (the
"Depositary") will not be charged brokerage fees or commissions or, subject to
Instruction 6 of the Letter of Transmittal, transfer taxes on the purchase of
Shares pursuant to the Offer. Shareholders who hold their Shares through a
broker or bank should consult such institution as to whether it charges any
service fees. Parent or the Purchaser will pay all charges and expenses of

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the Dealer Manager, the Depositary and D.F. King & Co., Inc., which is acting as
the information agent (the "Information Agent"), incurred in connection with the
Offer. Following the consummation of the Offer, the Purchaser intends to effect
the Merger described below. THE OFFER AND WITHDRAWAL RIGHTS WILL EXPIRE AT 12:00
MIDNIGHT, NEW YORK CITY TIME, ON MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 2000, UNLESS THE OFFER IS
EXTENDED. The Offer is conditioned upon, among other things, shareholders owning
at least a majority, on a fully diluted basis, of the then outstanding Shares
tendering and not withdrawing their Shares (the "Minimum Condition"), and the
expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino
Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended, and the regulations thereunder.
The Offer is also subject to certain other conditions set forth in the Offer to
Purchase. See the Introduction and Sections 1, 15 and 16 of the Offer to
Purchase. The Offer is not conditioned upon Parent or Purchaser obtaining
financing. Certain shareholders of the Company who own approximately 42% of the
outstanding Shares have agreed, among other things, to tender 90% of their
Shares pursuant to the Offer. The Offer is being made pursuant to the Agreement
and Plan of Merger, dated as of July 3, 2000 (the "Merger Agreement"), among
Parent, the Purchaser and the Company. The purpose of the Offer is for Parent,
through the Purchaser, to acquire a majority voting interest in the Company as
the first step in acquiring the entire equity interest in the Company. The
Merger Agreement provides that, among other things, the Purchaser will make the
Offer and that as promptly as practicable after the purchase of Shares pursuant
to the Offer and subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions set
forth in the Merger Agreement and in accordance with relevant provisions of the
Business Corporation Act of the State of Florida (the "FBCA"), the Purchaser
will be merged with and into the Company, with the Company continuing as the
surviving corporation (the "Merger"). At the effective time of the Merger (the
"Effective Time"), each Share issued and outstanding immediately prior to the
Effective Time (other than Shares owned by Parent or any subsidiary of Parent as
a result of the Offer or by the Company or any subsidiary of the Company, all of
which will be canceled, and other than Shares that are held by shareholders, if
any, who properly exercise their dissenters' rights under the FBCA) will be
converted into the right to receive $20.00 in cash, or any greater per Share

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price that is paid in the Offer, without interest. The Merger Agreement is more
fully described in Section 11 of the Offer to Purchase. The Board of Directors
of the Company (i) has determined that the Merger Agreement, the Offer, the
Merger and the other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement are fair
to and in the best interests of the Company and the Company's shareholders, (ii)
has approved and adopted the Merger Agreement, the Offer, the Merger and the
other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, and (iii) recommends
that the Company's shareholders accept the Offer, tender their Shares pursuant
to the terms of the Offer and approve and adopt the Merger Agreement and the
Merger. For purposes of the Offer, the Purchaser will be deemed to have accepted
for payment, and thereby purchased, Shares validly tendered and not properly
withdrawn as, if and when the Purchaser gives oral or written notice to the
Depositary of the Purchaser's acceptance of such Shares for payment pursuant to
the Offer. Payment for Shares so accepted will be made by deposit of the Offer
Price for those Shares with the Depositary, which will act as agent for
tendering shareholders for the purpose of receiving payment from the Purchaser
and transmitting such payment to validly tendering shareholders. If, for any
reason whatsoever, acceptance for payment of any Shares tendered pursuant to the
Offer is delayed, or the Purchaser is unable to accept for payment Shares
tendered pursuant to the Offer, then, without prejudice to the Purchaser's
rights under Section 1 of the Offer to Purchase, the Depositary may,
nevertheless, on behalf of the Purchaser, retain tendered Shares, and such
Shares may not be withdrawn, except to the extent that the tendering
shareholders are entitled to withdrawal rights as described in Section 4 of the
Offer to Purchase, and as otherwise required by Rule 14e-1(c) of the General
Rules and Regulations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the
"Exchange Act"). The Merger is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain
conditions, including, if required, the approval and adoption of the Merger
Agreement by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the
outstanding Shares. If Purchaser obtains 80% or more of the outstanding Shares
in the Offer, Purchaser will effect the Merger pursuant to the short-form merger
provisions of the FBCA without obtaining the approval of any other shareholder
of the Company. If the Minimum Condition is satisfied, the Purchaser would have
sufficient voting power to approve the Merger without the affirmative vote of
any other shareholder

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of the Company. The Company has agreed, if required, to cause a meeting of its
shareholders to be held following consummation of the Offer for the purposes of
considering and taking action upon the approval and adoption of the Merger
Agreement. Parent and the Purchaser have agreed to vote the Shares purchased in
the Offer in favor of the approval and adoption of the Merger Agreement. Under
no circumstances will interest be paid on the Offer Price, regardless of any
delay in making such payment. No interest will be paid on the consideration to
be paid in the Merger to shareholders who fail to tender their Shares pursuant
to the Offer, regardless of any delay in effecting the Merger or making such
payment. Payment for Shares tendered and accepted for payment pursuant to the
Offer will be made only after the timely receipt by the Depositary of (i) the
certificates evidencing such Shares (the "Share Certificates") or confirmation
(a "Book-Entry Confirmation") of a book-entry transfer of such Shares into the
Depositary's account at The Depository Trust Company (the "Book-Entry Transfer
Facility") pursuant to the procedures set forth in Section 3 of the Offer to
Purchase, (ii) a properly completed and duly executed Letter of Transmittal (or
a facsimile thereof), with any required signature guarantees or, in the case of
a book-entry transfer, an Agent's Message (as defined in the Offer to Purchase)
in lieu of the Letter of Transmittal, and (iii) any other documents required by
the Letter of Transmittal. The term "Expiration Date" means 12:00 midnight New
York City time, on Monday, August 7, 2000, unless and until the Purchaser, in
accordance with the Merger Agreement, extends the period during which the Offer
is open. In that event, the term "Expiration Date" means the latest time and
date on which the Offer, as so extended (other than any extension with respect
to the Subsequent Offering Period), expires. Subject to the terms of the Merger
Agreement and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and
Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), the Purchaser - may, under certain
circumstances, extend the Offer beyond the scheduled Expiration Date from time
to time, with or without the Company's consent, if at that date any of the
conditions to the Purchaser's obligation to accept for payment and to pay for
the Shares are not satisfied or, to the extent permitted in the Merger
Agreement, waived, in which case any single extension will not exceed the lesser
of ten business days and the number of days that the Purchaser reasonably
believes is necessary


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to cause the conditions of the Offer to be satisfied;

- may extend the Offer for any period required by any rule, regulation or
interpretation of the SEC or its staff applicable to the Offer, other than Rule
14e-5 of the General Rules and Regulations under the Exchange Act, with or
without the Company's consent; and

- will extend the Offer from time to time, unless the Company advises the
Purchaser that the Company does not wish it to do so, until the earlier of

- 30 days after the date on which any applicable waiting period under the HSR
Act has expired or been terminated, and

- October 31, 2000, if on the then-scheduled Expiration Date all of the
conditions to the Offer have not been satisfied or waived as permitted by the
Merger Agreement.

In this case, any single extension will not exceed the lesser of ten business
days and the number of days that the Purchaser reasonably believes is necessary
to cause the conditions of the Offer to be satisfied. Pursuant to Rule 14d-11
under the Exchange Act, the Purchaser shall, subject to certain conditions,
provide a subsequent offering period following the expiration of the Offer on
the Expiration Date (a "Subsequent Offering Period"). A Subsequent Offering
Period is an additional period of time from three business days to 20 business
days in length, beginning after the Purchaser purchases Shares tendered in the
Offer, during which shareholders may tender, but not withdraw, their Shares and
receive the Offer Price. Any extension, delay, waiver, amendment or termination
of the period during which the Offer is open will be followed, as promptly as
practicable, by public announcement thereof. The announcement in the case of an
extension will be issued not later than 9:00 a.m., New York City time, on the
next business day after the previously scheduled Expiration Date. During any
such extension, all Shares previously tendered and not withdrawn will remain
subject to the Offer, subject to the rights of a tendering shareholder to
withdraw such shareholder's Shares (except during any Subsequent Offering
Period). Shares tendered pursuant to the Offer may be withdrawn at any time
prior to the Expiration Date. Thereafter, such tenders are irrevocable. No
withdrawal rights will apply to Shares tendered into a Subsequent Offering
Period and no withdrawal rights will apply during the Subsequent Offering Period
with respect to Shares tendered in the Offer and accepted for payment. For a
withdrawal of Shares to be effective, a written, telegraphic or facsimile
transmission notice of withdrawal must be timely received by the Depositary at
one of its addresses set forth


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on the back cover of the Offer to Purchase. Any notice of withdrawal must
specify the name, address and taxpayer identification number of the person who
tendered the Shares to be withdrawn, the number of Shares to be withdrawn and
the name of the registered holder of such shares, if different from that of the
person who tendered the Shares. If certificates for Shares to be withdrawn have
been delivered or otherwise identified to the Depositary, then, prior to the
physical release of such certificates, the serial numbers shown on such
certificates must be submitted to the Depositary and, unless such Shares have
been tendered for the account of an Eligible Institution (as defined in the
Offer to Purchase), the signature on the notice of withdrawal must be guaranteed
by an Eligible Institution. If Shares have been tendered pursuant to the
procedures for book-entry transfer as set forth in Section 3 of the Offer to
Purchase, any notice of withdrawal must also specify the name and number of the
account at the Book-Entry Transfer Facility to be credited with the withdrawn
Shares. All questions as to the form and validity (including time of receipt) of
notices of withdrawal will be determined by the Purchaser, in its sole
discretion, and its determination will be final and binding on all parties. The
information required to be disclosed by Paragraph (d)(1) of Rule 14d-6 of the
General Rules and Regulations under the Exchange Act is contained in the Offer
to Purchase and is incorporated herein by reference. The Company has provided to
the Purchaser its list of shareholders and security position listings for the
purpose of disseminating the Offer to holders of Shares. The Offer to Purchase,
the related Letter of Transmittal and other related materials are being mailed
to record holders of Shares and will be furnished to brokers, dealers,
commercial banks, trust companies and similar persons whose names, or the names
of whose nominees, appear on the shareholder list or, if applicable, who are
listed as participants in a clearing agency's security position listing, for
subsequent transmittal to beneficial owners of Shares. The Offer to Purchase and
the related Letter of Transmittal contain important information that should be
read carefully before any decision is made with respect to the Offer. The
receipt of cash for Shares pursuant to the Offer will be a taxable transaction
for U.S. federal income tax purposes; see Section 5 of the Offer to Purchase for
additional information. Questions and requests for assistance and copies of the
Offer to Purchase, the



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Letter of Transmittal and all other tender offer materials may be directed to
the Information Agent or the Dealer Manager at their respective addresses and
telephone numbers set forth below and will be furnished promptly at the
Purchaser's expense. The Purchaser will not pay any fees or commissions to any
broker or dealer or any other person (other than the Dealer Manager) for
soliciting tenders of Shares pursuant to the Offer. The Information Agent for
the Offer is:

D. F. King & Co., Inc.
77 Water Street
New York, New York 10005
Banks and Brokers Call Collect: (212) 269-5550
All Others Call Toll Free: (888) 460-7637
The Dealer Manager for the Offer is:
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated
1585 Broadway
New York, New York 10036
(212) 761-7310
July 10, 2000


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