Many viewers are often curious about what we do. How does a news reporter take a story idea, chase it, and get it to air? And how often do story ideas never see the light of day or turn into something we never imagined?
It happens more often than you might think.
Sometimes I can spend hours, days or weeks looking into a story…to find out it isn’t one. Journalism means investigation, asking questions and specializing in that issue or problem as quickly as possible before our deadlines. To do this, we have to find the people with the information, and determine what’s fact.
Here’s a look at one of my days.
I received an email from a local woman whose daughter is waiting for a bridesmaid dress. The family was in a panic because the bridal store they bought the dress from was now closed, permanently. Its numbers are out of service.
I email her back requesting more information on the order, including dates and proof of documentation. I ask if either the bridesmaid or bride will speak with us about the closure of Wedding World.
I go online and visit the store’s website and information there confirms the store is closed. I check twitter, facebook and google for online complaints. Nothing current is showing, which leads me to believe the closure is recent, and customers may not yet be aware of it. The website provides the name of another shop, The Wedding Gown Shop, which brides can call or email for information on their orders.
Before work I drive to the location. I see notices on the door. One is from the landlord stating that the company “distressed” the property, or took it back on November 2nd. The other notice on the door is from Wedding World staff confirming the closure, and providing an email address customers can contact regarding any outstanding orders. I can see piles of discarded wedding dresses on the floor inside. The building is plastered with “for lease” signs.
I have investigated bridal shop closures before. They can become very big news. I recall watching a Troubleshooter story many years ago about the sudden closure of a wedding store. I will always remember the images of brides pounding on the glass, crying, demanding their dresses. But with this story, I only had two inquiries from anxious customers, and neither one was actually being refused their dress. I needed to find out…are customers actually upset? Are their dresses and orders in danger?
I send emails to every address I can find for Wedding World, and The Wedding Gown Shop. I leave phone messages as well. I look up contacts I have in the bridal industry and ask about what the rumours are around the city. They lead me to believe there is a connection between the two stores. I do corporate searches on both businesses to find out who the directors and shareholders are. This confirms the co-owner of Wedding World is now the owner of The Wedding Gown Shop, the same shop now handling the orders.
I leave phone messages for the landlord to find out any additional information I can about the reason for the closure. He calls me back later stating that the business closed on it’s own without notice, but there had been rental concerns over the last year regarding finances.
However, I still don’t have an actual complaint. I surf the web, checking wedding forums and review sites looking for comments and/or complaints about the business. Everything I find is at least 5 months old, or older. Nothing current could mean there isn’t a problem with dress delivery even though the store has closed.
I still haven’t received a call back from the girl waiting for the bridesmaid dress, Wedding World or The Wedding Gown Shop, so my camera man and I visit the closed store. We take the video we need, and then visit The Wedding Gown Shop nearby. This is the store that is reportedly now handling all the dress orders. We go inside and chat with a staff member. She is friendly and polite and explains that she has been calling all the customers from Wedding World to make sure they have the latest information on the orders. She says weddings won’t be disrupted and the transition is going well. We ask her to have the owner call us.
The woman with the original bridesmaid dress concern calls me back. She explains that the wedding party is panicked because the doors are locked. I ask her if she has contacted the second store about her order, she explains that the bride just did and it appears the dresses are at The Wedding Gown Shop and they can pick them up at their convenience.
So, now the only complaint I did have, isn’t really a complaint anymore. If the dress is at the store, there really isn’t a problem for me to solve.
The owner of the shop calls me back. She confirms everything her staff member has already said, that all orders are being handled, and customers will be taken care of.
The fact is, a big and well known bridal store has closed its doors. But just maybe, this isn’t going to translate into problems for brides. I have to go with what I can prove, and my research is telling me there is no proof of a problem with the dresses. I write the story, but it is 45 seconds in length. It explained the closure, and where concerned customers can go for information on their orders. I spoke with many people on the phone over the course of my ten hour day, but I didn’t interview anyone on camera. The story didn’t call for it. No one we could find had a recent and valid complaint.
After the story aired, we didn’t receive a single complaint from a bride or bridesmaid. Not one. That’s unusual for a story like this.
We will continue to monitor the story, and it’s possible disgruntled brides may still contact us for help. But it’s also possible that this store is taking care of its clients, and weddings will not be negatively impacted.
It was not the story I was expecting when the day began, and I spent hours discovering this…but that’s just part of the job. Sharing information that will help consumers is the goal.
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