It is a sad and stressful day in Michiana for an untold number of brides and bridesmaids and family members who haven’t found resolution to the closing of Brides A La Mode. As of 12:30 PM today, when we stopped at the gown shop, the doors at Brides A La Mode remain locked, the store is dark, and the sign announcing that the gown shop would reopen on February 15th remains in the window. There is no sign of any changes to the store, in the form of remodeling, one of the reasons the owner Kathy Strukel gave for the closing. There is also no changes to the website and no new announcements on their Facebook fan page.
We truly feel sorry for all the brides/friends/family who are suffering from this store closing. But in our opinion, if you had merchandise on order at Brides A La Mode and have been waiting to see if the gown shop did reopen today before taking other steps, it is time to start searching for alternatives. If you made your purchase by credit card, many card companies allow you to protest a charge as much as a year from the original purchase date. If you paid by cash or check there is legal recourse.
On the Facebook fan page for Brides A La Mode, there are two interesting posts from brides who did manage to get a refund on Saturday, here is the text:
Kelsey Jones Janine…go to gretas!!! she has been wonderful and truly 1 of the only people who have brought peace to this mess…she is willing to go out of her way to help the brides of BAM. and with today being the 15th…when I went to BAM to cancel my bridal gown order and obtain a refund I was told by Kathy herself in front of my maid of honor that the new owner took over yesterday…I would make it a point to get yourself as far away from this place as you can…the story has changed so many times that I’ve lost track…now that I’m out of there it feels like a huge weight has been lifted. oh and you pretty much needed to stalk the door to the store to know they so were open on saturday.
Dana Pageler Cohen I was at the store last Saturday and received a refund for an order on a wedding dress that was suppose to have been ordered in December, but when I contacted the designer, there was no record of any order made by BMA. The order had NEVER been made! Kathy was at the store, and graciously refunded the deposit, no questions asked. She said that there would be a new manager in place this week, however I drove by the store today, the reopening day, and the CLOSED sign was on the door. Still wondering what is exactly going on.
So Kathy Strukel was telling brides who were demanding refunds and their gowns on Saturday, when the store opened for 2 hours, (something that from postings on Facebook not all customers were informed of) that there were new owners. What do we think of this? Well in our opinion, we don’t know what to think, except we wouldn’t trust this any more than we trust the story that the shop closed for “remodeling” or “inventory”. And since the “new owners” did not change the sign saying the gown shop was suppose to reopen today, then did not reopen… If the gown shop has been sold to a new owner and they took possession last Friday then we would think they would be taking steps to minimize the damage the previous owner has done over the past two weeks! We do not understand if there are new owners and for some reason they couldn’t open the doors today, why they didn’t at least change the sign and offer up new information on the facebook page or website!
We would also like to point out that if there are new owners that does not mean they assumed the liabilities that the previous owner is under! They could have bought the unsold inventory or/and taken over the lease but that does not mean they agreed to be legally responsible for any existing orders paid to the previous owner.
Dana wonders what the real story is behind the closing, who knows, but it is safe to assume the store was not making enough money to stay open. But there are still plenty of Michiana Wedding vendors who can fill your wedding gown needs. If you want to shop at a store with a track record, there is Bernardo’s for the Bride and Greta’s. And to all the brides/moms/friends/grooms caught in the mess created by Kathy Strukel and Bride’s A La Mode we wish you good luck and just remember, weddings are about friends and family and love, a gown is important but it is only a part of the whole day, don’t let this mess ruin the enjoyment of your wedding day!
