Woodbury bridal consignment shop's abrupt closure leaves brides empty-handed
A bridal consignment shop's sudden closure has left some brides out in the cold. (FOX 9)
WOODBURY, Minn. (FOX 9) - When a bridal consignment shop in Woodbury shut down, customers were left empty-handed, including some brides not far from their wedding days.
Some of those brides want their money or items back, saying the Bride-to-Be Consignment owner didn’t let them know they had closed until Oct. 7.
“I kill my phone every day trying to call,” said Kathleen Mahowald, a bride-to-be. “If you’re going to close your shop, you have to give more than a day’s notice.”
Ever since the business closed, Mahowald has tried to get the couple hundred dollars she put toward her dream dress back in her pocket.
“That $200 would have been great because it could’ve gone to the photographer or the venue that we’re at,” she said.
“I’ve had a dress there since 2017,” said Janelle Morchinek, a consigner. “It hasn’t sold.”
Morchinek has also tried to retrieve her $2,400 dress without any response.
“Not only are they giving up something that meant something to them that they were hoping to profit from, but now, they don’t’ get anything,” said a former employee. “It seemed that the investment company PCH wasn’t paying off the consigners. So, people were bringing in their dresses for consignment, we would sell their dresses and they weren’t getting their money for it in the end.”
PCH, or Proprietors Capitol Holdings, is a Minneapolis-based private equity group employees say invests in the business.
“We were constantly having people call us wondering where their money was and we’d have to call this company that we could never get a hold of and they weren’t giving us any answers or where these people’s money was,” the former employee added.
When FOX 9 reached out to PCH’s COO Scott Hagel, he said he did not have a comment.
The Bride-to-Be Consignment and the building owner did not immediately reply to FOX 9’s request for comment.
Consigners and brides say they’ve informed police, small claims court and even the Attorney General’s office about their situation.