Wedding dresses from an upmarket bridal store which went into liquidation earlier this year will go on sale today in a Cork hotel at heavily discounted prices.
Close to €250,000 worth of dresses and suits from The Wedding Dress on Penrose Wharf in Cork city which ceased trading on March 21st will be available for sale at trade prices from today to next Thursday at Rochestown Park in the city.
Liquidators selling off the assets of the bridal store hope to raise up to €80,000 from the four-day sale which will go towards reimbursing some of the firm's major creditors. Brides who purchased their dresses by cash or cheque and never received them now have no hope of recovering their money such is the scale of the store's liabilities.
The stock on sale from today comprises of bridal dresses and suits from the warehouse that had not been sold to anyone at the time of the shops liquidation. It does not consist of dresses which were partially paid for by customers impacted by the shop's collapse.
Among the bridal wear on offer will be wedding dresses, bridesmaids outfits, shoes, jewellery, wedding suits, ties, cravats and tie pins.
The clothing for today's sale is made up of left over stock from the Penrose Wharf store and its sister shop in Kenmare, Co Kerry, which also ceased trading in March. Stock will be on sale from a quarter to a third of its retail price. The bridal shop's owner, Judith Linehan, now has debts of more than €1 million and no major assets. Ms Linehan claims she has received quasi death threats and abusive phone calls.
The story of the Wedding Dress fiasco has attracted international attention appearing in the Australian edition of the Daily Telegraph as well as the weekend magazine in the New York Times.