Haverhill Landlord Steps Up After Bridal Boutique Abruptly Closes
HAVERHILL (CBS) - A Haverhill landlord is coming to the rescue after a consignment bridal dress shop abruptly closed its doors with thousands of wedding dresses still inside.
Jim Ryan said he never thought he would be in the bridal business, but he felt he was left with no choice when the owner of the Bride to Bride Boutique walked out on her own business.
Ryan, who owns the building, found himself stuck with thousands of dresses.
"Over 5,000 dresses and at least 2,000 wedding dresses," Ryan said, were left behind.
Much of the inventory belongs to people hoping to sell off their wedding dresses on a consignment basis.
But when Ryan saw the large inventory was about to go to waste he decided to take action.
"I realized I didn't have the right to take possession of these dresses, so we called all 359 customers," Ryan said.
On his own time, Ryan, along with the help of his wife and the Community Action Inc. in Haverhill, contacted everyone on their dress list.
Karen Burke showed up to claim her daughter's wedding dress just in the nick of time.
"We were about to give up and as we were walking out the door," Burke said. "Someone came out of the dressing room wearing the dress. They were going to buy it. We were like this is the dress! And we got it back."
Ryan said it was a major hassle but he's glad his customers are happy.
"We were just trying to do the right thing," Ryan said.
