Brides beware: Popular dress shop closing all stores

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Brides were in for a surprise when they were met with locked doors at Alfred Angelo and a sign reading "due to unforeseen circumstances, we will only be open to customers who are picking up their orders."

"You don't find the perfect dress more than once, so now I have to start back all over again," said soon-to-be bride Ryan Cassidy.

She is one of several brides-to-be showing up at the store in the Galleria area, trying to come up with a plan B.

"I put a 60 percent deposit down and found out via Facebook last night that they were filing for bankruptcy," said Cassidy.

According to a store manager, Alfred Angelo Bridal is closing all three stores in Houston and 63 stores nationwide.

Brides are able to pick up their dress, but they will have to find someone else to make the proper alterations.

"I wish they would have called and warned us or told us," said mother of the bride Shirley Chabala.

Chabala and her daughter Ashley found out Wednesday night the bridal store was closing through social media.

"So I called and asked them what my choice was. They told us basically they wouldn't let us know for 24 to 48 hours, but the dress she tried on is here, we can just come get it and have it altered later," said Chabala.

Cassidy said the situation is a little complicated because she has already paid a $1,200 deposit.

"There's no guarantee we'll get it back, with them going bankrupt, we can dispute it with our bank, but there's no guarantee we'll get our money or our dresses," said Cassidy.

The company has released the name of a lawyer who customers can contact about their dresses.

This is number one on Cassidy's list.

Thankfully, her wedding is a year away and has time to figure things out, but that doesn't replace the dress she said "yes" to.

"It's kind of hard to find a perfect dress after you've already found a perfect dress and paid for it, so we'll have to go from there," added Cassidy.

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