“We are delivering dresses. We are altering dresses. We are dyeing shoes if necessary,” Arnett said.
Arnett decided on Monday night to close the store.
“The weekends, they just aren’t profitable anymore,” she said, noting that Internet retail sites are tough competition for retailers such as herself.
“Please be patient and give us time,” she said.
According to the BBB, the company is “fulfilling current orders and contracts but not taking any new orders.” BBB President and CEO John North said customers should continue calling the business for updates, write the store and contact the Ohio attorney general’s office if their contract is not fulfilled.
“They (SharNett) have not filed bankruptcy as of today,” he said, noting in the past year there have been three or four closings similar to SharNett’s, with little notice to customers.
“I think people are trying to stay optimistic and do the right thing,” North said.
The same goes for Wagner.
“I’m not laying blame, I just want my merchandise,” she said. Tricia had been researching choices for her and Jeremiah Frederickson’s wedding for nearly two years. Now, with less than a month to go until the wedding, Kathy is having a hard time patiently waiting for a reply.
“Everything was going smooth until yesterday,” she said. “(Tricia) put everything in their hands.”
About 30 SharNett’s customers who met Wednesday evening in a Miamisburg parking lot weren’t as kind. Some were teary-eyed, at a loss for what to do. The meeting was organized by Marsha Kemp of Dayton, whose daughter Lauren is getting married Sept. 4.
Lauren, 24, said the fitting she had for Tuesday was canceled, with no explanation Kemp and Lauren spent $1,770 for Lauren’s wedding dress and a bridesmaid’s dress.
Arnett called the Dayton Daily News on Thursday morning.
“Because of all this media, and because of the customers’ reactions, it’s harder for us to do our job,” she said.
Arnett said she and some of her employees were working on alterations Wednesday in a hotel room when brides-to-be found out. She said she and her workers fled the room, were approached in the parking lot and even followed on the streets of Dayton.
"I was followed while I was trying to deliver gowns," Arnett said.
She said all wedding dresses for this weekend have been delivered, except for two bridesmaids dresses that she said she would deliver Thursday. Kemp's dress also was delivered, Arnett said.
“We understand people’s concerns, and we are doing the best we can,” Arnett said. “There is no reason why they would not get their merchandise.”
Kemp and others at Wednesday night's meeting went to Miamisburg police to file complaints. “I’m pushing to get her indicted on charges. If she doesn’t get indicted she will go right back into business and will be doing this again,” Kemp said.
Contact (937) 718-6183 or sharnettbridal@aol.com, according to a sign on the door of the store at 8 Prestige Plaza in Miami Twp.
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