Hundreds of wedding dresses were destroyed when bridal shop Priscilla of Boston closed its doors for the final time. The Minnesota shop has received criticism from Edina locals who say that the store should have donated its remaining wedding inventory to people in need.
Bessie Giannakakis, owner of Bessie’s Boutique, said:
“I’m just seeing gowns, thousands of dollars of gowns, that were being spray-painted and thrown in the dumpster.”
Another local store owner added:
“Why didn’t they donate them to needy people?”
Kare11 reports that Priscilla of Boston employees were marking the unsold dresses with big orange Xs before throwing them in the dumpster. Employees also destroyed shoes, slippers, veils, and other bridal accessories.
Priscilla of Boston said that the wedding dresses were destroyed because they were already damaged. Company president Patrick Walsh said:
“Priscilla of Boston has always donated quality bridal gowns to a variety of charitable causes. We do not, however, donate unsaleable dresses that are damaged, soiled or in otherwise poor condition.”
But witnesses report that the wedding dresses found in the dumpster were in perfectly wearable condition, that is, if they didn’t have giant neon Xs spray painted on them.
Here’s a video report from Kare11.
Do you think Priscilla of Boston was destroying the wedding dresses out of spite? Was the company so upset about going out of business that they decided to destroy the dresses instead of donate them? Or do you believe Walsh when he says that the dresses were too damaged to donate?
