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SPRINGFIELD, Va. - Wedding gown designer Alfred Angelo has filed for bankruptcy and brides-to-be across the country were told to come to their stores to get their dress before they closed down for good.
Some women said they received calls from the store while others found out on social media.
There are more than 60 Alfred Angelo stores nationwide and hundreds of other shops also sell their gowns.
“I drove all the way here from work,” said one customer at the Springfield, Virginia location. “I'm hoping my dress is in there. The wedding is in three weeks and half the bridesmaids don't have their dresses.”
It is a major wrench in the works for weddings across the country. Brides and bridesmaids were rushing to Alfred Angelo locations hoping that the dresses they had paid for would be there.
For one couple from Baltimore, when their daughter’s wedding gown was nowhere to be found, they drove to Springfield because they heard this shop had a similar style on display.
“She was in tears,” this Maryland mother said about her daughter. “I said, ‘Oh, calm down. It’s only a dress.’ Then the more I thought about it, this was the dress. We have spent a lot of time and money and it’s a big deal.”
“How this all kind of rolled out sounds like a complete mess,” said bride-to-be Manuela Rayner.
She found out all about this while watching FOX 5 News at the gym Thursday evening and immediately headed over to the Springfield store.
“Then I just got the news that I was not hoping for,” Rayner said. “The chances of us getting our dresses and getting our money back – who knows? Right now, I'm like, ‘Do I start looking for another dress? Am I out a thousand dollars?’ What kind of business practice is this? One of the saleswomen inside told me that in the Richmond store, they had to close at 4 [p.m.] because there was an assault. I guess somebody showed up, kind of like how I feel right now – a little bit frantic.”
Police in Henrico County confirm there was an incident at the Alfred Angelo store in the Richmond area. They have not provided any further details, but one bride sent us a photo of a sign posted on the store's door saying it was closed.
The employees at the Springfield location stayed late trying to ship out any dresses that have been paid for, but customers did not come back to retrieve. It was pure dedication to their trade because they learned Thursday morning that they no longer have a job.
In the meantime, there has been no official statement from Alfred Angelo. Their website still advertises a sale to make room for the fall inventory. There was no answer at any of their listed phone numbers, even for the hundreds of smaller wedding stores that they supply dresses for.
I Do, I Do Bridal in Gaithersburg, Maryland, said they heard all about this from a bride and their customers are also left in limbo.
An employee at another location told us over the phone that they are expecting some sort of statement to be put online at around noon Friday and it will hopefully provide some more answers for these brides who do not know where their gowns and dresses are.