A bridal shop closed abruptly--and that has some Chicago-area women singing the bridal blues.
Hairstylist Jessica Garcia is getting married in August. After searching several bridal stores, the soon-to-be bride found her perfect dress at Kimberly's Bridal shop in Lakemoore.
"This was the one," said Garcia. "It looked exactly the way that I described it beforehand I went trying on dresses."
A few days ago Garcia checked on the status of her order when she discovered a sign on the shop's front door saying Kimberly's had closed for renovation.
The sign was still up when Sabrina Jimenez stopped by to see if her maid of honor dress was ready for a July wedding.
Both women looked more closely and realized that hidden under the renovation sign was a neon green state sign revoking Kimberly Bridal's retail license.
"I have left threes messages and I've gotten no callbacks," said Jimenez. "At this point she has taken my money in full for my son's ringbearer tie, my husband's tie and my dress, and I have nothing."
After several warnings the State of Illinois revoked the bridal store's retail certificate on May 13 for not paying sales tax.
The customers were paying the owner, but the owner wasn't paying the state.
"When she finally got a hold of me that I don't get my dress, she still denied the fact there was a sign on the door and acted like there was no big deal," Garcia said.
While the bridal shop has been in business in Lakemoore for several years, the village manager says that in January 2010 it changed ownership.
The State of Illinois says the owner still has access to the merchandise and can deliver dresses paid in full.
Unfortunately, Garcia only has a deposit down on her order and Jimenez still owes the remaining 20 percent.
"I will have to pay rush fees to get a new dress, and I will be paying double for everything-- if at all possible to even get it at this point," said Jimenez.
"I called around to see if anybody has the dress I was looking for, and I haven't found been able to find an exact match, but I'm pretty much gonna have to settle on anything at this point," said Garcia.
The State of Illinois would not release the owner's name.
