May Department Stores and TheKnot.com tie the knot

St. Louis-based The May Department Stores Co. is investing $5 million to acquire a 19.5% interest in The Knot Inc., operator of the online wedding site TheKnot.com.

At the same time, the companies announced a marketing agreement which will link TheKnot.com to the wedding gift registry sites of May`s full-line department stores. TheKnot.com has over 2.3 million registered members. May will also have representation on The Knot`s board of directors.

Under the terms of the alliance, May and The Knot will implement a multi-platform marketing campaign to promote May`s department stores that offer wedding registry services -- Hecht`s, Strawbridge`s, Foley`s, Robinsons-May, Filene`s, Kaufmann`s, Famous-Barr, L.S. Ayres, The Jones Store and Meier & Frank -- to TheKnot.com. These promotions will include online advertising and in-store promotions, direct mail and e-mail campaigns, and advertisements in The Knot`s magazines, The Knot Wedding Gowns and WeddingPages, regional wedding magazines. The Knot has marketing agreements with AOL and MSN.

"This is an unparalleled opportunity for May to team with the premier source for wedding-related information,” said Gene S. Kahn, May`s chairman and chief executive officer. “The Knot has impressive brand recognition among today`s engaged couples and is acclaimed for offering savvy, fresh ideas and great information for wedding planning."