It was every brides’ nightmare. After picking out the dress of their dreams, the wedding dress store the brides had worked with unexpectedly closed down.
That left many brides-to-be wondering what they would wear down the aisle if they couldn’t get access to the dress they had already ordered. It would now appear Champagne Bridal is back up and running in Saskatoon but, according to the building’s property manager, that isn’t the case.
READ MORE: Saskatoon dress distress: women pay it forward to help out brides-to-be
Gilbert Dobroskay, President of RE/MAX Guardian Commercial and the property manager for the building since 2004, he never thought he would ever be in the wedding dress business but as of a couple months ago he’s been making dreams come true for brides-to-be.
“We had one couple that was getting married in the Dominican and were able to get their dress off-site for them and I was invited to the wedding,” Dobroskay laughed.
He was the one who was forced to shut down Champagne Bridal in June – in order to recover funds the company owed after failing to do that within a set time frame.
“There are four creditors all together, that we’re working for everybody to try and recover the monies that are owed.”
READ MORE: Champagne Bridal in Saskatoon closes doors permanently
Dobroskay won’t say how much Champagne Bridal owed but that the amount was significant. At the time, he also intervened helping to get brides-to-be their dresses from the company and anything left in the store upon lock-up in June.
“Anybody who needed a dress or had a dress here, that was all resolved. I think there was maybe one that was still with the designer and they made direct contact with the designer and got that dress that way,” he said.
Now after ceasing the inventory, hundreds of of beautiful wedding dresses and other gowns are being sold at deep-discounts as part of a liquidation sale.
“We’ve had some young girls come in and are buying dresses and their boyfriends haven’t proposed yet,” Dobroskay said.
“If they want to get a good deal even with a wedding a year, two years away you’re not going to get a better deal than what you have now.”
The recovered losses will first go towards any Canada Revenue Agency claims, the banks and then what is owed to the landlord. Since the building could use the space, if the wedding gowns aren’t snatched up by the end of January. Dobroskay said they’ll consider a bulk sale.
Dobroskay also assures us that not a single gown on the racks is one where a bride had already said ‘yes to the dress’ back in June.
“In this case, the tenant just made some bad management decisions and got caught,” he said.
“There’s no reason for people or the customers to have to carry the brunt of that so we just try to help everyone as best we can, that’s just the way we operate.”
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