PHOENIX — A quinceañera boutique suddenly closed its doors, leaving dozens of Phoenix families and teens without their dresses weeks before their big day.
On Friday the company posted on social media, “The doors of Oh La La by Posh officially closed October 13, 2023” in Spanish, to their nearly 20,000 followers.
“We got in a panic mode,” Enrique Bailon told 12News. “We didn’t know what to do.”
Bailon purchased a $2,000 package for his niece that among many things included the dress and crown. They first went to the store, located at 16th Street and Glenrosa Avenue, in March. This month they were supposed to do the final fitting for her January quinceañera.
Bailon learned through social media the store he had paid in full had closed and has not been able to get a hold of the owner to know why.
“It was kind of a shock,” said Rich Harris. “It’s a big event and it was a beautiful dress.”
Harris and his family had just gone home after a visit to the venue for his daughter’s Sweet 16 when a friend alerted him of the store’s closure.
His daughter’s party is on Dec. 1. Everything is ready for it, but now it won’t include her $1,800 dream dress.
Why did Oh La La by Posh closed?
It’s unclear why the store closed, but Christopher Rangel said it has to do with bad business decisions.
Rangel operates a beauty salon out of the store. While he told 12News he partnered with the owner to help run the boutique when it opened in November 2020, he was not in charge of the finances.
“I don’t know truly what the exact reasoning was, but I can tell you that negligence does play a big part,” Rangel said.
Rangel said he got into the beauty business when he was 13 years old. During an event, he met and did the current owner of Oh La La by Posh’s makeup. The pair hit it off and eventually agreed to work together to open the store.
Rangel said he was promised co-ownership, “but that never happened,” he told 12News. The business is registered to Renee Cuellar and Martha Cuellar according to the Arizona Corporation Commission.
Rangel said the owner made the dress orders to third parties, many of them in Mexico, and ensured vendors were paid. But something went wrong in the process and now dozens of dresses were not delivered or ever ordered.
“I was the face of the company but there were certain things that I in no way handled, like the financials and vendor accounts,” Rangel said.
Rangel said he was caught off guard by the closer too. He was at the business on Wednesday finishing up work and by Thursday things were missing.
The store was whipped out Tuesday when 12News visited the establishment. Some dresses were thrown on the floor, with trash and a pair of undressed mannequins.
Lorena Pacheco used to be the store manager, but left in August after months of overdue pay, she said.
“It was a drag having to ask her to pay us,” the ex-employee said. “Me as an employee I didn’t give her money, to buy a dress, but I did give her my time, my effort, my work hours.”
What happens now?
12News made multiple attempts to reach the business owner but were unsuccessful.
Rich Harris said he called the owner on Tuesday and spoke to her for about 10 minutes.
“She stated that she had a business partner, that she was off-site remote working and she let this business partner handle things for her and it went sideways for her, per her,” Harris said. “She did apologize for what it’s worth.”
Harris said the owner asked to take down his information and allegedly said she was working to refund clients.
Rangel estimates about 80 families are missing dresses. He did return one dress to a family that the owner left behind.
A sister bridal shop in El Paso, Texas called Posh Bridal also closed its doors on Tuesday. A sign posted outside the door said the locks had been changed by the landlord for failure to pay the rent.
Several parents are now working together and evaluating legal options, like filing a lawsuit against the store owner.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Boutique de quinceañeras cierra repentinamente y deja a decenas de familias y adolescentes sin vestidos
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