Beloved high street clothing store to shut ‘wonderful’ branch after 44 years following huge closing down sale
A BELOVED high street store is closing down after 44 years with a huge clearance sale.
Angelique Lamont Bridal and Bridesmaids, based in Glasgow, will be shutting up shop for the final time as the owners get ready to retire.
The bridal shop, based in the city centre’s Howard Street, originally opened in 1980 at St Enoch Square, then known as Miss Angelines Bridal Hire.
Angie and Maggie, who own the beloved business, were flooded with messages of support and thanks after revealing news of the shop’s closure online.
The store is now having a massive sale with off-the-peg wedding dresses starting at £99 and bridesmaid dresses from £20.
In a Facebook post on August 27, the pair wrote: “To all our lovely customers, past and present… After 44 years in the bridal business, it is with great sadness that we announce our decision to retire.
“This has not been an easy choice for us, but it is time to create a new chapter in our lives and spend more time with our families and friends.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you.
“From our beginnings at Miss Angelines Bridal Hire at our St. Enoch Square store, where we started 44 years ago, to our current location, Angelique Lamont Bridal and Bridesmaids, we have had the pleasure of helping tens of thousands of brides over the years.
“We have created unforgettable memories together, and we are forever grateful to you for allowing us to be a part of your journey.
“We have been fortunate to work alongside fantastic manufacturers and their representatives throughout the years.
“We extend our heartfelt thanks to all of you; it has been an amazing experience.
“To all the staff who have worked with us over the years, a massive thank you for helping make our brides’ dreams come true.
“The memories, laughter, and friendships we’ve made will stay with us forever.”
The pair told current customers to ‘not panic’, adding that all orders placed would still be fulfilled and were expected to arrive in-store in around six to eight weeks.
They added that they would stay open until all orders were completed.
The heartfelt message concluded with: “We appreciate you all so much. Lots of love, Angie and Maggie.”
The Bridesmaid Clearance sale is today, Sunday 15th September, from 12pm to 3pm.
The owners said they “expect it to be busy”, and asked customers to “form an orderly queue”.
All bridesmaid dresses are between £10 and £75 – off-the-peg, without multiples of the same dress.
Customers commented their positive testimonials underneath the Facebook post announcing the closure, wishing the owners all the best with the next stage in their lives.
Laura-Anne Schneiter said buying her wedding dress this year in the shop was “truly one of the best experiences”.
Carina Tomac said she and her friends were given a “brilliant experience and we had so much fun at your store”.
Amy Dodds wrote: “I only just bought my bridesmaid dresses with yourselves last month!
“You were both so helpful and made both me and my bridesmaids feel very comfortable during our visit.
“Happy retirement xxx.”
Lynsey Fotheringham said: “Loved getting my dress from you.
The only shop I’d been to where I didn’t feel like I was on the clock or an inconvenience.
“Enjoy your well earned retirement. You’ve made a lot of people smile in your working life.”
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when it relocated a tired store in Chesterfield to a new big store in a retail park half a mile away, its sales in the area rose by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.