Metairie, Louisiana — On Sept. 20, local brides and their bridesmaids stopping in for fittings and to pick up their dresses at Linda Lee Bridal & Boutique in Metairie learned the store closed. This morning, New Orleans Bride Magazine visited the store. A sign on the door reads, “Due to family emergency, closed until further notice.” Additional information written in black ink states, “Working on a plan to reopen soon.” Several notes with requests to call regarding pickups of altered dresses from what appears to be customers are also written on the sign. Customers are also reaching out on the company’s Facebook page for information on how to get dresses they’ve already paid for and deposits for ordered dresses. The company’s website, lindaleebridal.net appears to have been shut down. Calls from New Orleans Bride to Linda Lee Bridal & Boutique were not returned as of the publication of this piece.
Approximately 30 customers have retrieved their gowns from Melissa Estess, owner of the Bridal Boutique by Maeme and The Alteration Shoppe, which provides alterations services for various local bridal boutiques. New Orleans Bride spoke with Estess who confirms that Linda Lee owner Dina Ippolito is ill.
Estess later issued the following statement via email: “The owners of the Bridal Boutique by Maeme and The Alteration Shoppe voluntarily accepted a small number of gowns that were currently in alterations at Linda Lee for very near weddings to assist those customers in receiving their merchandise. All of those customers have been contacted. The Bridal Boutique by Maeme is not affiliated with Linda Lee in any way, and will not be receiving any more merchandise from Linda Lee.”
"Our hearts go out to all the customers that have been affected and we assisted where we could," says Estess.
Estess also suggests that brides continue to contact Linda Lee Bridal & Boutique to inquire about dresses that are already at the store. For brides, families and friends needing an alternative, Estess says reach out to the other local bridal stores, tell them about the situation and ask if they can help in any way. She also says as far as she knows, no other stores have been contacted to help get dresses out to brides and families.
In a report Tuesday night, WWLTV, a partner of New Orleans Bride Magazine, interviewed several customers voicing concerns over retrieving dresses for their upcoming weddings.
UPDATE 3:20 p.m.: WGNO reported Thursday that "Daniaga Darrensburg, an employee at the bridal store, says she can't get in touch with the owner, and noted that her paycheck bounced twice.”
New Orleans Bride will continue to provide updates as information develops.
*Customer information has been removed from the second photo
