ROSEVILLE, Calif. – Brides-to-be across the country are scrambling after Alfred Angelo Bridal abruptly closed stores across the country.
"Something needs to be done because it's not fair!" California bride-to-be Katie Kortuem told Sacramento's KTXL-TV.
Kortuem echoed the concerns of brides across the country Thursday night, brides learning that the central part of their big day – their bridal gowns – are bound up in a planned bankruptcy. Owners of Alfred Angelo are shuttering the Roseville location that was supposed to provide Kortuem's dress, and the rest of its stores nationwide.
"Like they literally called me two days ago and said 'Your slip is in, you can pick it up in August when your dress comes.' I thought it was a joke, I can't really believe it," Kortuem said.
The closures have not only angered customers, but may also have taken employees by surprise.
"So you feel like people at the top knew this was happening and just strung the customers along. I'm sure, I'm sure they had to have known. I mean the poor girls in there, I went in to get information and they were like 'We just wake up tomorrow with no job, they have no idea, they literally called us this morning and said "Don't open the doors,"'" Kortuem said.
Alfred Angelo has reportedly hired a Miami-based law firm and is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection. Those behind the decisions that played out today may really need protection from brides jilted not at the altar, but at their stores.
"Luckily mine is 11 months out. I have time to go dress shopping again, but I cannot imagine being someone whose wedding is in a couple months and not having time to go get something else. I just can't believe it!" Kortuem said.
Brides-to-be and sympathetic Twitter users echoed Kortuem's displeasure:
