Bridal shop closes - Poor poor brides!

[jk1101]

MANALAPAN, NJ (WABC) -- A wedding dress store in New Jersey allegedly jilted dozens of brides out of their dresses.

 

Kristal Stevens is getting married on May 22nd.

 

Last fall, she found the perfect wedding dress, which was strapless and beaded.

 

She paid Enzo Bridal in Manalapan, New Jersey $860 as a deposit on the dress, veil, and head piece.

 

But, when they failed to schedule her for a fitting, and when they stopped taking her calls, she went to the shop Sunday only to discover a sign on the door.

 

"The shop is closed, so I'm completely freaking out, I'm crying," described Stevens.

 

It's not clear how many dozens of brides-to-be have been jilted by the shop.

 

But with many spring weddings just around the corner, most won't be able to reorder or come up with the extra money for another dress.

 

Eyewitness News has learned that the owner, Steve Mondello is deeply in debt and is considering bankruptcy.

 

He has hired a lawyer who told Eyewitness News, "I have been retained by Enzo to facilitate the invoices for their existing customers, between them and the dress makers."

 

"I don't understand how someone stayed in business this long, he was a thief to me," said Kimberly Lawrence, a former Enzo customer.

 

Lawrence knows Enzo never ordered her silk dress, and is now praying that she'll be able to find something to wear down the aisle.

 

"A dress is a very special part for the bride, it's almost like falling in love," said Lawrence.

 

"My dress is gone, everyone's dress is gone," said Stevens.

 

It turns out the Better Business Bureau had already given Enzo's their worst possible rating, an F.

 

That's little consolation to the dozens of unsuspecting brides who came to the store hoping to leave with their dream dress.

 

This store is about 10 minutes from me - not where I got my dress, but my friend's cousin did put a deposit down there. they were advertising that if you bought your dress from there they'd give you a free cruise. I feel sooooo bad for all of these ladies! I hope something can be done for them!

[Thomasjsgirl]

Oh no!! I read a thread yesterday by one of our BDW brides who put her deposit down at that store, and now needs a new dress in very short order.

[~Crista-Lee~]

What an absolute nightmare!!! I feel for the girls who lost their dresses.

[EmmaGaussoin]

That is so sad. I couldn't imagine how those brides are feeling.

[Mrs.B]

This is absolutely horrific! I empathize with the brides.

[hat0112]

Uhhh, how horrible!!! That is just so terrible. The dress is SOOOOO important.

[Cassie]

wow this is just so horrible! I can't imagine what these brides are going through right now.

[Diva]

Yea one of our fellow brides posted about this, so WRONG! I feel so bad for them

[Pazzesca]

they did a follow up to this story on News 12 NJ this morning. they had on samantha goldberg (of "who's wedding is it anyway?" fame). her "solution/suggestion" was for brides-to-be purchase insurance on the purchase of their dress. she also suggested that the brides who are now out of a dress and need one a.s.a.p. go to a bridal shop and try to find a sample dress that fits and they can buy off the rack or to go to a warehouse store like david's bridal and buy a dress that fits off the rack.

 

what a horrible thing to have to deal with.

[Nonnie]

This sort of happened to me, but it ended up working out even better

 

Fortunately another bridal shop moved in and arranged for all the brides to get their dresses at wholesale cost from the manufacturers. Since my mom had also put the deposit down with her Mastercard, which has deposit insurance, we were able to get the deposit back.

So in my case I got my $300 dress for $160. These brides should try to look into getting their deposits back, as long as the company has filed for bankruptcy and they had the coverage, they will get it back.

 

I hope it works out as well for them as it did for me. I remember how upset I was when I heard about my dress, I was bawling for a good couple of hours, and I still had time to go get a new dress