Wedding Bell Blues Over Burglaries at Bridal Shop

A bridal boutique in Woodland Hills that closed without warning was broken into Tuesday for the third time in a week--apparently by angry women looking for their dresses, police said.

“They’re breaking the law,” said Los Angeles Police Officer Thomas Gahry. “Who knows if they’re taking their dresses, or just taking any dress?”

In fact, most of the 50 to 100 dresses stolen in the break-ins were store samples, said Bridal Designs owner Bruce Anderson.

The boutique’s troubles began Thursday, when the manager of the shop at 22540 Ventura Blvd. abruptly quit, Anderson said. The next day, two salesclerks did not show up at work to open the store.

The sudden closure alarmed brides-to-be. On Friday night, someone ripped the shop’s wooden door off its hinges to get inside, Gahry said. On Saturday, irate women stole dozens of dresses from the rear of the store, Anderson said.

Trying to calm the frenzy, Anderson--a Sun Valley businessman who said he has never personally sold a dress--reopened the store Monday. He said that up to 100 women showed up to claim their dresses, and that some stayed to help him answer the phone and sort through the orders.

“Considering everything, everyone was actually very cordial to me,” he said. One woman, who had joined the looting Saturday, even stopped by to apologize and pay for her dress.

“I’m trying to do the right thing here,” Anderson said, adding that he intended to return every dress to its rightful owner.

But the bridal brouhaha worsened Tuesday, when two employees failed to show up for work again. Anderson, who said that one of the workers complained that the television news cameras made her nervous, kept the store closed.

The store was then broken into a third time, although police said it was unclear if any more dresses has been taken.

Andreea Shnayder, 24, stopped by the store Tuesday evening looking for answers. The Encino woman, whose wedding is set for June 2001, said she paid a $300 deposit for a chiffon dress.

“I’m kind of disappointed,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s there. And if it is, I don’t know if someone stole it.”

Times staff writer Hilary MacGregor contributed to this story.