Brides are being left without dresses or refunds as dozens of shops from a popular bridal company are suddenly closing.
Customers scrambled to Alfred Angelo stores upon hearing from employees that the company is filing for bankruptcy. In Riverside, customers said they were blindsided by a call Thursday morning that warned them to pick up their dresses by 6 p.m. or they might never see them again.
"It's heartbreaking, very heartbreaking for every bride that's walking in there right now," said Rosa Dearing, whose eldest daughter, Crystal, was missing her dress.
When Rosa Dearing got word that stores were closing, she and her other daughter, Jessica, headed to the store, but they said workers could not find Crystal Dearing's $2,000 dress, which she was planning to wear for her wedding in October.
"I was here last week and nobody said anything," said a teary Jessica Dearing. "I was picking up the other bridesmaid's dress and they didn't say anything about it."
Other customers were also furious that the company never gave them warning weeks in advance.
"They said, 'We can't do any refunds, we can't do anything to help you,'" said Kathy Hunt, who said she was out $1,100 for her daughter's dress.
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One worker at the Riverside store said they were caught off-guard. Alfred Angelo's corporate headquarters in Florida did not return NBC4's requests for comment as of Thursday night.
"There's going to be a lot of broken hearts, a lot of broken hearts, including my daughter, Crystal" Rosa Dearing said.
Alfredo Angelo's lawyer, Patricia A. Redmond of Esquire Stearns Weaver Miller, can be contacted by calling 305-789-3553 or by emailing predmond@stearnsweaver.com.
