My fiance paid for a wedding dress ($2,500.00) in full from Mary Helen Ranieri's store Suky., in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. Because our wedding had not occurred yet, my fiance asked the store hold the dress in their store to keep it properly, which they gladly agreed to do (this is a common service for bridal stores).
The other day, my fiance received a call from her friend, who told her that Suky bridal closed several months ago, which came as a great surprise since no one had received any calls from the store for us to arrange to pick the fully paid for - dress up before (or after) closing of the store.
I found the contact info for Mary Helen Ranieri (no easy task) at her other store in Haddonfield, NJ, "All That Shimmers", and called her. When I finally got a hold of this woman, she told me that she was "looking for the dress". I probed more, as it seemed a disingenuous answer, and she said that the "bank" took all of the dresses in her store to auction off - so there was no dress to return, I was told. I asked for a refund and was told that there was no money, that Suky (the store) was gone, so there was no way I could get my money back, even though Mary Helen Ranieri was the sole proprietor of the store and is the proprietor of another store (which was named "Suky Occasions" for some time) in Haddonfield, NJ.
So, to condense a long story, this woman took my fiance's dress, which my fiance fully paid for and owned, and used this dress to settle her own debts! That is theft, and Mary Helen Ranieri thinks no one can do anything about it because the company she owned has been dissolved (most likely through bankruptcy).
From searching online, I have come across numerous other brides-to-be whose dresses were also stolen (or who were robbed of their 60% deposits).
I am pursuing all civil and criminal avenues available to me, but I know there are other people this has happened to, and as this woman owns another store, this could happen to many more people - shop at this woman's store at your own risk!!!!