Wiltshire | Archive | 2008 | July | 5
From the Wiltshire Times, first published Saturday 5th Jul 2008.
THE SUDDEN closure of the Bradford on Avon bridal shop has caused hours of angst for scores of brides across the county and beyond this week.
Arvella Bridal in Silver Street was still taking money from customers just last month.
But last week its Bradford shop and its branch in Lyndhurst, Hampshire, closed for business and the business is now in liquidation.
The shops were owned by 33-year-old Lisa Clarkson, whose mother Pauline Rod, of St Margaret's Street, helped out at the Bradford branch.
This week Mrs Clarkson, of Warsash near Southampton, said she was sorry and revealed threats had been made to her family including the kidnap of her two Labradors.
But police have had no reports of these incidents.
Brides and their families were still left reeling this week from the sudden closure of the shop.
Sue James, of Box, paid a deposit of £787 for a dress for her daughter, who is getting married next March, and has been warned she may not see much of it back.
Mrs James said: "We paid that money on June 9 when they must have known the company was going down the pan.
"Pauline Rod was there when I wrote the cheque and I even asked what would happen if the company went down - they just said 'that's not going to happen'.
"We have since spoken to the designer and they said they haven't even received the order yet."
Rebecca Tye, from London, paid £250 each for three bridesmaid dresses for her wedding in three months.
She said: "I only heard the shop had closed on my hen night at the weekend.
I just don't know whether to wait and see if I can get the dresses or order new ones."
In a rare act of kindness in the whole saga a former member of staff went back to the Bradford shop at the weekend to collect dresses for weddings taking place in the next couple of weeks and gave them to the brides.
Laura Pepler, 24, of Brabant Way in Westbury, received her three bridesmaid dresses, worth £600, on Monday.
Miss Pepler, who is getting married today (FRI), said: "I just got a phone call saying I could go and collect them.
"I was told to go and pick them up from someone's house - she was obviously doing her best to get some of the dresses out to people."
Mrs Clarkson said that she herself had done nothing wrong and had been let down by suppliers.
She said: "It is the way the market is. We tried desperately within the shop not to be in this position."
"I have worked my hardest with suppliers to carry on and the suppliers have let me down."
But hat maker Vivien Sheriff, who runs Vivien Sheriff Millinery near Salisbury, said: "We always kept up with delivery contracts.
"We bent over backwards to support Arvella. We have had 30 separate inquiries relating to orders that were never placed with us, despite the customer paying Arvella between half or full price."
© Newsquest Media Group 2008