INSIDE EDITION reports on perfect wedding dresses that are being destroyed and tossed into dumpsters. The action is causing brides everywhere to be outraged.
It's a sight that's horrifying brides everywhere, brand new designer wedding dresses, sprayed with red paint and then tossed in a dumpster.
Bessie Giannakakis says she watched stunned as the gorgeous dresses, some with price-tags still attached were dumped. One of the dresses was worth over $4,3500.
"They're brand new, there's nothing wrong with them. The human thing to do would be to donate them to somebody who could use it," says Giannakakis.
It happened outside a Priscilla of Boston store in Edina, Minnesota. The chain once had 19 stores around the country but it went out of business and on December 30th, all the stores were shut down. Instead of discounting the dresses or donating them to charity, the company hired workers to destroy them.
Kari McMurrough, who works at a nearby hair salon, couldn't believe it when she looked in the dumpster: "They were dragging them along the ground."
Beautiful, intricate creations that were once shown proudly on the catwalks of New York and Paris were ruined. She and some friends dove right in and managed to rescue some of the dresses.
So why did the company destroy the dresses? They say the dresses were "unsaleable" because they were "damaged" and "soiled," but added, "Like many of you, we were disheartened by imagery of unsold bridal gowns being destroyed."
McMurrough did find some treasures in the dumpster. She showed INSIDE EDITION bridesmaid dresses that were in perfect condition.
The ladies then rescued a huge box of bridal bustiers, each one $125. They're passing them on to Pam Phillips who runs "Operation Glass Slipper" for brides who can't afford a dream dress.
Now, those gowns will end up where they should; on brides walking down the aisle, instead of discarded in a dirty dumpster.
Parent Company David's Bridal admits some of those gowns could have gone to charity and the chain is promising to gather the remaining gowns from various stores to check them out and donate them if feasable.
