“I was very surprised,” Thal said. “I think it was the article in the paper and the post on Facebook that made the difference.”
Thal referred to a Feb. 24 Dayton Daily News article about the closure of Bethany’s Bridal and Prom at The Greene in Beavercreek. She and several others say the shop’s owner Francesca Walker left the Miami Valley for Michigan, leaving some clients without wedding dresses.
Jennifer Thal said the ordeal was shocking.
“Her store’s phone is off and her (cell phone) voicemail is full,” Jennifer Thal said. The store’s Facebook page is also now down.
The Greene, which leased the space on Plum Street to the shop, is sharing Walker’s contact information with brides affected by the store’s closure Jan. 31.
Linda Hinson, a spokeswoman for The Greene, last week said the shopping center could not reach Walker.
It is not clear how many brides have been affected.
Stephanie Via-Hagar, co-owner of Entertainment Unlimited in Centerville, said Bethany’s Bridal’s closing is minor when compared to what occurred when SharNett Bridal and Prom abrubtly shut its doors in 2009.
Several dozen brides were left without gowns.
“I think (Bethany’s closure) was a very different situation based on what I was told by the customers,” said Via-Hagar, a wedding coordinator since 1989, noting Walker contacted some of her customers about her decision to close.
“This person tried to do right,” she said. “SharNett just closed their doors. I had (a bride) who was a week (away from her wedding).”
Beavercreek police spokesman Sgt. James Wuebben said his department has not received any complaints against Walker.
“It’s a civil matter,” he said, noting it would be difficult to prove criminal intent. Those affected should try to work out disputes with Walker and, if that doesn’t work, consult an attorney, he said.
The high-end bridal shop owner did not return repeated phone and online messages seeking comment about the shop she opened in October 2008.
Makeup artist Lisa Scott, owner of Beaute Box pampering service, said she worked with Walker on several projects since fall and was impressed with Bethany’s.
“It seemed like a Paris boutique,” Scott said. “You really felt you were getting something different.”
Scott said Walker told her at Hara’s Bridal and Prom Gala in January that she was having personal issues and would not be able to renew her lease with The Greene.
Walker’s house on Torrey Pine in Beavercreek is in foreclosure, according to Greene County Common Pleas Court records.
Jennifer Thal said Walker initially contacted her and told her the shop would close and the money her mother paid for the dress order would be refunded. Their last conversation was Feb. 4.
“Its been very stressful for me and my mom. It is supposed to be a fun experience,” Thal said.
Thal said her mother purchased replacement bridesmaids gowns from a Cincinnati shop for her ceremony this summer.
Another missing wedding dress
Lydia Heider of Kettering said she loaned the dress she bought from Walker and wore during her April 24 wedding to the shop for a photo session in May.
Heider said she was given the runaround and now doesn’t know the location of the bridal dress she purchased for $1,500.
Heider said she called Walker’s shop a little more than a week ago only to discover that its phone is disconnected.
“(Walker) had my number, she had my e-mail. Why couldn’t she say ‘we are closing, come get your dress back,’ ” Heider said. “I’ve told so many girls what a great shop it was and how nice she was. It took my integrity away.”
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