In a conference call with analysts today, Men’s Wearhouse CEO Doug Ewert blamed weak stock performance on superstitious brides who won’t get married in 2013. They’re apparently hurting the tuxedo-rental business. “We are aware of widespread negative results, impacting the wedding industry this year,” he said, according to The Wall Street Journal. “We believe this is mostly a timing shift. 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.” Fear of the number thirteen is called “triskaidekaphobia” and it is not the most irrational mentality known to befall brides-to-be.
