Magnolias of Madison

Allison Drake opened Magnolias of Madison in March as sort of an homage to her late mother.  “My mom had a bridal boutique in Eden for 30 years,” Allison explained.  “She loved her dresses, so I opened Magnolias in her honor.”

Sadly, on May 31, flood waters ravaged her business.  “I had just moved the prom dress collection out of our space and moved in 30 new bridal gowns,” said Allison.  “When I arrived at the store after the rain, I was in shock and absolutely devastated.  My inventory was ruined, and I had no flood insurance.  Given our location, I never thought I’d need it.”  But because of storm drain issues, many businesses in Madison had to deal with the same sort of issues.

Instead of giving up, Allison did some research and decided to call Shores.  “I’d heard of Shores, especially the Winston-Salem location, and their great reputation,” Allison shared.  “Then I did some research, discovered their certification, and learned that they really do know what they are doing.”

Allison began working with David King, the manager of our High Point location and our gown expert extraordinaire, and today she has a completely different outlook on things.  To date, David and his staff have restored and returned almost all the gowns, and Allison is looking forward to a grand re-opening at her new location, 101 West Academy Street in Madison, Labor Day weekend.  Their new location is a home, built in 1890, that is on the National Registry.  It boasts much more space than her prior location, has great visibility, and will allow Allison to showcase the gowns.  “I’m so grateful that I called Shores, and that they were willing to help,” shared Allison.  “Perhaps the silver lining in all of this is that we have a better location, and we got to work with some terrific people.”

Shores is equally as pleased with the results.  “It was a slow process,” said David, “but in the end, I’m so excited we were able to help her.”  To clean the gowns, David and his team, working on a couple dresses at a time, soaked the bottom two feet of each gown in a gentle cleansing solution, then one-by-one, they hand cleaned the bottom of each dress using the greatest of care.  “The results were amazing,” exclaimed Allison, “I think they look even better than they did before.”  Below are a few before and after photos so that you can see what a remarkable job David and his team did.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

There’s a reason why folks like Allison call on Shores; since 1948, Shores has had reputation of providing quality and caring service to all their clientele.  To learn more about Shores, visit our website or check us out on Facebook.