Shop owner could face criminal charges

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Another day, another shocking discovery when it comes to the upscale Charlotte bridal shop that abruptly went out of business leaving brides high and dry.

Now WCNC has learned it looks like the owner was selling used dresses trying to pass them off as new and she could face criminal charges.

We found Cindy DeJulien, the mother of a bride whose dress may have just been stolen.  Last week the owner of the now closed La Bella Sposa called her daughter.

DeJulien told us, “She asked Alyse if she could buy her gown back from her because there was a bride who needed a gown for a wedding coming up.”  DeJulien says her daughter, a recent bride and wedding coordinator, couldn’t help but feel for a desperate bride, so she agreed to rent the dress out, with a few conditions.  She says the store owner promised to clean and preserve the dress once the wedding was over.  But now there is no sign of the dress.

“I’m really afraid she has cleaned the dress and instead of letting the girl use it for her special day has sold it to her as possibly a new gown.”

So this mother of the bride tracked down the drycleaner the shop owner had told her she often used.

The owner at Smile Cleaners was shocked when he heard what was going on.

Kenny Kim said, “I was like, oh my God!”

He says La Bella Sposa owner Shannon Starcher and her husband had just been in with several dresses for him to clean.

“Shannon told me on Monday when she pick up the dress, she say something is not good," he said.

DeJulien is pretty sure she’s figured out what’s going on because her daughter has been in touch with a number of brides facing similar predicaments.  “I think she was probably having them cleaned and then selling them to the brides as new gowns,” she said.  Many of the brides have taken to facebook and citysearch, posting comments about their individual dealings with the dress shop, and desperately trying to find dresses they’ve paid for.

La Bella Sposa's owner left one dress at the cleaners, giving a desperate mother a false sense of hope.

DeJulien said, “I was so excited thinking I had found Alyse’s gown and when he brought forth the other gown I realized this was much bigger than I thought it had been.”

In fact the owner at the drycleaners says when a La Bella Sposa employee tried to pick up the last dress, he noticed that employee had a carload of dresses, piled so high you couldn’t see out the back window.

“It really concerns me because there are that many more girls out there trying to find their gowns or possibly don't know they're buying gowns that have been used.”