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Bridal retailer Alfred Angelo closes abruptly all stores

By KIRO 7 News Staff
By KIRO 7 News Staff

Bridal retailer Alfred Angelo abruptly closed its stores on Thursday night without notice, leaving many brides and bridesmaids without answers and dresses.

The company has more than 60 stores across the country, including a location in Tukwila. After news of the closings broke, brides scrambled to pick up dresses before the stores shut their doors for good at 8 p.m.

As of Friday morning, the company still had not released a statement about the closings.

Employees at the store in Tukwila found out the store was closing on Thursday.

They called some brides who had dresses in the store and told them to come pick them up.

KIRO-7 talked to a bride named Julia who got the call and rushed to the store on Thursday.  Her headpiece was in the store, but her dress was in alterations.  She worried she’d never get her dress.

Late Friday Julia was able to get in touch with the seamstress who gave her back the dress.

Other brides had similar stories of employees going out of their way to help. KIRO-7 talked to a bride who came to the store devastated to find it closed on Friday. When she got home, she discovered her dress and all of her accessories had been shipped to her house.

A bride who was in the hospital told KIRO-7 the manager of the store actually drove her dress to her house Thursday night to drop if off.

Employees at Alfred Angelo's corporate office in Florida's Delray Beach left the building en masse on Thursday, carrying boxes, plants and other personal belongings, as social media talk swirled that the bridal retailer was closing its doors.

The scene followed buzz on social media saying that the company, which was founded in 1933, is going out of business. On Twitter and online message boards, anxious brides posted queries and alerts, but few found answers.

By Thursday afternoon, there were no employees in the company's Delray corporate office on the fourth floor of a building on Congress Avenue at Linton Boulevard. Some offices still had desks and supplies and framed posters of wedding dresses hung on the walls.

An employee of another business on the first floor, which faces the main entrance to the building, described seeing a “mass exodus before lunchtime.”

“Everyone left one by one with cardboard boxes, plants,” said the employee, who asked not to be named. “One of them said it. They were all fired today … It was so bizarre.”

A company representative could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.

Brides or bridal parties can make claims at the following information. 

Patricia A. Redmond, Esquire
Stearns Weaver Miller
150 West Flagler Street
Miami, Florida 33130
Phone: (305) 789-3553
Fax: (305) 789-3395
predmond@stearnsweaver.com

Competitor David's Bridal said it would offer 30 percent discounts to brides and 20 percent discounts to bridesmaids left without dresses.

Brides who paid for dresses that are not expected to arrive anytime soon can dispute the charges on the credit cards.

But anxious brides still took to Twitter on Thursday to sound off on the status of their orders and the lack of information coming from the company. Some brides said they had already ordered and paid for dresses, but had yet to receive them.

“Any other #brides stressed about the #alfredangelo bankruptcy?? @theknot @WeddingWire @brides THIS IS SO MESSED UP,” one woman wrote.

”@AlfredAngelo Will you still be fulfilling orders that were placed months ago?” another person asked.

“One store location did answer the phone. Sales rep said “we’re all basically screwed” & gave me Attorney’s office to contact. #alfredangelo,” a third person said.

In a March press release, the company billed itself as "the world's leading manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer of beautifully designed wedding gowns, bridesmaids and social occasion dresses." The company was founded in 1933, according to its website.

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