Frowns without gowns: Local bridal stores feel aftershocks of Alfred Angelo bankruptcy

CEDAR RAPIDS - The sudden closure of one of the nation's largest bridal dress companies has left Corridor bridal stores racing to find alternatives for the altar.

In a turn of events that would make most anyone a bridezilla, Alfred Angelo, a bridal gown chain with more than 60 stores nationwide and partnerships with more than 1,400 retailers, closed all its store locations without warning on July 12.

After two days of silence, the company announced in a statement released on its website July 14 it had filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

'We apologize for the inconvenience and hardship resulting from this event,” the statement read.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the company plans to file for bankruptcy protection, which led to the closures.

The closures not only left customers scrambling to figure out if they would get refunds, but left local businesses scrambling to fix the problem.

Dayna Harrington, owner of Elegant Repeats and Elegant Bridal in Cedar Rapids, said she had 20 customers - both brides and bridesmaids - without the dresses they had ordered and paid for.

'We have either been able to find an alternative dress or we have given refunds,” Harrington said, noting the refunds had come out of the store's own cash register.

The national chain had been Harrington's only supplier for brides' dresses the past few months, and she now is searching for other avenues for bridesmaids dresses.

Retailers were given no warning about closings, leaving some stunned.

'We were all shocked that they went bankrupt,” Harrington said. 'It was crazy because we were still getting information on our 2018 samples coming, so I don't think their sales representatives even knew about it.”

Harrington said she typically spends thousands of dollars each year on samples from the company.

However, the owners of Hope's Bridal in Atkins and Davenport said neither of them were completely surprised by the announcement.

'I'm not totally shocked because we saw something happening that I'd seen before in the industry,” said Diane Miebuhr, who co-owns both store locations with her husband, Mark. 'We've seen at least three other major players that have closed in our lifetime and we can usually kind of sense this. Mark and I had watched clues that some things were not going the same as they had been doing.”

The clues, Miebuhr said, were statements she received from Alfred Angelo notifying retailers the bridal chain was undergoing an audit and requesting invoices that were two to three years old. It was unclear to her if it was an internal audit or not.

Miebuhr said all her customers' orders arrived to the store before the bankruptcy took place.

Hope's Bridal felt no financial impact, and Miebuhr said pulling away from the company likely preserved their bottom line.

'We feel very fortunate that we felt we made a natural shift away from pushing Alfred Angelo products several months ago, because we felt some things were changing,” Miebuhr said.

The company is based in Delray Beach, Fla., and was founded in 1933 by Alfred Angelo and his wife, Edythe Piccione, in Philadelphia. In the 1960s, their children, Vincent and Michele Piccione, began running the company, which they would do for the next 35 years. It was under the children's leadership that the company expanded its retail stores across the country.

The Hope's Bridal Atkins and Davenport stores, opened 1985 and 1993 respectively, only sold Alfred Angelo bridesmaids dresses because Miebuhr said they had stopped selling bridal gowns when Alfred Angelo began selling directly to the customers nearly 20 years ago.

'We definitely made an absolute done decision with bridal gowns when (Alfred Anglo) opened company stores and were selling out of storefronts to the same brides that could buy in a retailer,” Miebuhr said. 'They did not have a store in Iowa, so it was not a direct hit on us ...

When our corporations or manufacturers try to sell directly to the consumer at the same price they're asking us to sell to the consumer, it becomes really sticky and it becomes hard for the retailer.”

David's Bridal, a national competitor of Alfred Angelo, didn't waste any time after hearing the news. In a tweet to worried brides and grooms, David's promised a light at the end of the altar - it's offering discounts to those affected by their rival's store closures.

Callie Canfield Worthington, senior director of public relations for David's Bridal, said the company's more than 300 locations across the country have 'been seeing a constant flow of brides and bridesmaids” since July 14. However, she didn't know the exact number of customers who were affected by the Alfred Angelo bankruptcy.

'My understanding is that some customers are still waiting in hopes their dresses will arrive,” Canfield Worthington said.

Many brides took to social media last week, venting their frustration. But in recent days, many women have also posted photos of their used wedding dress, offering to donate them to any bride in need.

And despite what some would call a fiasco, Elegant Repeats's Harrington said she's at least grateful it didn't take place during the busiest time of the season, typically during February, March and April.

'With as many brides that have been impacted across the country, had it happened in the spring, I can't imagine that,” she said.

The Washington Post contributed to this story.

l Comments: (319) 368-8536; michaela.ramm@thegazette.com