OC Register

Sunday, February 8, 2009
$99 for bridal gowns draws a crowd
Hundreds show up at a Fullerton store for a bargain dress.
By BARBARA GIASONE
The Orange County Register




FULLERTON - Bridal-bargain shopping hit the downtown Sunday when more than 300 prospective brides and their families braved cold, rainy weather to buy a $99 wedding gown.

When The Dresser owner Marianne Shearer arrived at 9 a.m., the line of prospective brides stretched around the block on West Commonwealth Ave. Some had shown up as early as 6 a.m. with coffee and blankets to stand in line, Shearer said.

Five shoppers, and their families, were allowed inside the store at a time for 15 minutes.

That was enough time for Joy Lumba of Newport Beach to find three wedding gowns for her upcoming Mediterranean cruise wedding.

"I'll wear one for our wedding in Spain, another in a civil ceremony and one for the special occasion dinner aboard ship," Lumba said. "I couldn't go wrong at $99 apiece. I was looking at dresses earlier that were selling for $1,800 apiece."

Shearer said a small notice on Craigslist and on her Web site elicited hundreds of e-mails. She attributes the "crazy response" to the difficult economic times.

Shearer's husband, Kirk Sullivan, said wedding gowns are seasonal and each year The Dresser retires styles to make way for new inventory.

"My wife literally had hundreds of past years' gowns valued in the $2,000 range and stacked to the ceiling in our guest house," Sullivan said.

Shearer sold more than 60 dresses in four hours.

"Maybe we'll do this twice a year," she said.

Contact the writer: 714-704-3762 or bgiasone@ocregister.com

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