La Merite Bridal

DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM THIS SHOP (doesn't deserve to be called a business). If I could have given this shop negative 5 stars I would have. This will be long so please read and be advised that the owner and his store manager Diane are ripping individuals off. My mother and I have already reported him to the Better Business Bureau and we plan on contacting the news to expose him as well. My mother ordered her mother of the bride dress on April 24th for my upcoming wedding on 9.2.18. The owner guaranteed her it would arrive in 12-14 weeks. This was lie. The owner has a clause in the contract that states they have up to and including the event date to ship your gown. Simply put, they have until the day of your wedding to receive the dress in store. What person in their right mind would wait to receive a special garment for a special day until the day of? No one! But he has a clause and because most people do not read contracts thoroughly, they get screwed by this con artist and his bed wench Diane. The owner lied to my mom on 3 occasions and told her (after the 12-14 week window had passed of course) that the dress would be in. Each date he gave the dress never appeared. He gave several excuses and none made any sense. The final date he gave my mom was Tuesday, 8.21.18. My mother still had not received her dress by this week. Thus, she decided to go and purchase a dress from David's Bridal. Per the representatives there, they have had to put out many fires due to La Merite's carelessness. They have countless stories of dress orders he has ruined for many clients. My mom ordered a dress from David's and it will be here next week. Meanwhile, my mother spoke to the owner, she informed him she could no longer wait and purchased another dress and asked for a refund. Up until this point, the owner had been respectful, however, he turned on her and told her "that was her problem" and he yelled at my mother for several minutes. He then told her that her dress would be in on Tuesday and that he would not grant a refund. With a police escort, my mother arrived to the shop on Tuesday morning. Diane the bed wench, pretended that he was in a meeting but per the other reviews, you will find that he runs and hides instead of confronting customers he has severely disappointed. They had a dress there. The dress she ordered was blush (light pink) the dress they gave her was dark pink. My mother is out of over $200 + due to this failure of company. I spoke with Diane the bed wench yesterday who lied twice. First she stated that the dress came from a new vendor and they had never worked with them before THEN she backed tracked and said the vendor had never done this before IN HER 7 YEARS OF WORKING THERE. So is it a new vendor or an old one? Either way, the entire experience was awful but I know my mom will look beautiful on my wedding day thanks to David's Bridal. BUYER BEWARE. They order from China and have no clue when your dress will be in. The reason why this shop remains open is because they have a clause in a contract that guarantees them they will not have to refund. DON'T PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM THIS HELL HOLE!

I bought a dress they said they could order it by the date. I paid in full. They called back a couple of days later and said they could not get it by my date. They refused to refund me. Don’t do business with them . I’m reading their reviews and mine isn’t the only story like this.

Don't believe anything they tell you regarding schedule, correct fittings, their alterations persons charged me almost as much as the dress and didn't really alter it. Then asked for a big tip, all payable in cash, then begged me to tell the bridal shop she charged $100. less than I had to pay so their fee to her would be lower. Bridal shop was unresponsive, didn't follow up when dress was much later than expected (even after paying a rush charge up front), and the dress fell apart during the wedding. DON'T GO HERE!

I had the best experience with La Merite! Debra helped me and my family with everything to find my fairy tale dress! She even ended up picking out 'the one' for me that I passed over! My dress from La Merite looked absolutely stunning on my day! Super affordable, Debra and Art were wonderful and I definitely recommend going there for any dress or bridal needs!

OMG THE OWNER IS RACIST, RUDE, AND ARROGANT!!!!! I visited the shop and ended up finding a dress to my likings and made a purchase. I did notice while I was picking out and trying on dresses, how short and rude the owner Art was with customer's that came in as well as customer's that called in. However, I was delighted by the ladies that assisted me in the shop. I also observed one of the ladies that work at the shop shaking her head and making a side comment stating "Art needs to stop talking to people crazy. Especially when they are spending big money for such an important day." At the moment I did not think anything of it as I was happy with my dress and had not interacted with the owner. After everything was all picked out and set, I had my first interaction with the owner and was not impressed. He received a phone call while taking my payment, paused the transaction without excusing himself, and had a 15 minute personal conversation right in front of me prior to processing my order. This was not an important call... The call was simply... How was your day? And... What are you doing tonight? (This was strike 1) One of my brides maids came up to the shop within the same week to look for some brides maids dresses and stated the owner was in the process of assisting her however, when a Caucasian lady walked in needing assistance, he left her without excusing himself to assist the Caucasian lady and never returned to assist. (This was strike 2) I called up to the shop prior to my dress arriving to get the roundabout date it should arrive and spoke with the owner. The first time I called, he briefly answered the phone and stated "Call back we are busy" and hung up. I was unable to call back immediately as I had to return back to work. I called him back after I got off and questioned why he hung up and he bi-passed my question asking what I need. I asked him to please confirm when my dress will arrive. He gave me a date stating my dress and veil will arrive that day. I stated I am sorry sir, there must be some mistake, and I did not order a veil. He immediately started fussing at me! He stated, "DON'T CALL AFTER YOU PAY AND COMPLAIN ABOUT YOUR ORDER! I GAVE YOU THE DATE THE ITEMS WILL ARRIVE! ....(I was totally confused as of why he was treating me this way, Especially after I just spent over a thousand dollars???) I explained I am not complaining, I am telling you what I did not order. He continued to fuss and curse at me. I requested to speak with one of the ladies that assisted me and he stated I AM THE OWNER OF THIS STORE THE LADY YOU WANT TO SPEAK WITH WORKS FOR AND DISCONNECTED THE CALL.... (This was strike 3) I called back and spoke with one of the nice ladies that worked at the shop. She apologized for the owners actions and stated I actually do NOT have a veil on my order and he must have been confused. I told her I am extremely upset and really want to take my business elsewhere. She encouraged me to just hold tight to get my dress and if I choose just don't do business with him again. Unfortunately based on the circumstances I must still get my dress. Never again will I support someone of this character. My bride’s maids, grooms men, mother, and mother-in-law all were going to get there attire here however I stopped them before they made the huge mistake that I made. PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING AT THIS SHOP!!!!!!!!!

After looking everywhere in the St. Louis area for the service and wedding dress of my dreams, I finally found both at La Merite! Debra and Art were both wonderful in making the vision I had for my wedding dress come alive and also staying within a reasonable budget. Not only did they have a wide selection of beautiful wedding gowns, but I was also able to find my perfect bridesmaid dresses here as well! Overall, my experience at La Merite was everything I was hoping for and would come back to them in a heartbeat!

Great family shop and wonderful customer service helped with anything so glad I got my bridesmaid dresses there

I found the bridesmaid dresses of my dreams!!

I was very happy! everything was perfect. Art new me by name when i called or came in. My dress was beautiful everything fit right. All of my girls dresses were perfect! This might not be an upscale give you champagne when you walk in the door place but if you want great quality and service for a good price this is where to go!

This was a wonderful experience!!! The second or third dress I tried on was THE dress, the woman who helped my mom and I was super friendly and helped me figure out how to wear the dress, what could go under it, etc, and since it is locally owned, we were able to haggle a little and got my wedding gown for an amazing price!!! Loved it!

The bad thing is they got alot of beautiful dresses, but the services is horrible.would not recommend them at all. They didnt communicated very well they didnt tell us that all three of my bridesmaids needed to order before they could order, so when two went they didnt say they needed the third one until 5 months until the wedding, and the dresses didnt get here until two weeks until the wedding, so didnt give them enough time to do much. I read reviews before hand and I order my dress almost a year in advance and still my dress came in three months before my wedding. SO yes dont go here

Wide variety friendly professional very knowledgeable. I went ti Robin's they were not the friendliest nor did they try to help me seeing as though it was the Chinese new year and dresses were delayed. I called Art at Lamerite and problem solved!

La Merite has been around for a long time and still has a great selection and great value! I found my dress on the clearance rack of all places and couldn't believe the deal I got! I was so lucky and it was the prettiest dress that I had seen out of all the stores I went to.

I will new shop at La Merite ever again. The management is rude and scammed me on my dress.

My dress came in very late, but all and all, i paid a fair price and they worked to make sure I had something to wear on my wedding. It's a fair shop, Just order your dress very, very early. Also, know exactly what your getting for your veil. I ordered a veil and it came different than I expected.

Wow. What can I say about LaMerite and Art? I wound up in this dress shop because they carried a line I had found online. After going to and being hassled by the pricey boutique stores in the area, this was the complete opposite and a breath of fresh air. I ordered a dress without actually seeing it, which came in late (a week and a half prior to OUT OF TOWN wedding). Big mistake! I despised the dress. I had tried on it's sister dress in the store. Art wound up also selling me the dress I had tried on and oversaw that it went from a size 14 to a 2-4 in about two days and it turned out PERFECTLY! Thank you so much!

It was intimate and very easy to get help when needed. They had a nice selection of dresses at VERY GOOD prices.

They're great for wedding gowns;I would warn people to not purchase their bridesmaid dresses there.

They communicated very well and accomodated all of my girls, even those who lived out of town.