Prom Shop Assets To Be Auctioned Off

The assets of a closed Jersey dress shop that failed to provide prom gowns to dozens of customers – or give them refunds – will be sold at a court-ordered auction tomorrow.

State Attorney General Jeff Chiesa and the State Division of Consumer Affairs obtained court permission in June to change the locks and impound merchandise inside the Red Carpet Pageant and Prom store. The State requested court permission after learning that some customers, including high school students planning to attend their upcoming proms, had placed deposits but not received their dresses when the store abruptly closed.

The court-appointed receiver will conduct the auction, and the proceeds will be held in an account controlled by the receiver until further order of the court.

“Our goal” says the AG, “is to get restitution into the hands of the consumers who did not receive their merchandise or the return of the monies they paid for the dresses they never received.”

The state filed its Complaint against Red Carpet Pageant and Prom, LLC, store manager Patricia A. Dowling of Deptford, N.J. and her husband, Michael J. Dowling. The State’s Complaint was later amended to add as a defendant a related company, Prom and Pageant Place Limited Liability Company. The defendants have not responded to the Complaint and the State will seek a default judgment.

The Red Carpet Pageant and Prom store is located at 1200 Route 23, in Wayne. Merchandise inspection begins at 10 a.m. tomorrow, followed by the auction at 11 a.m.

Auction details can be seen at : http://theauctioneersgroup.com/auction_detail.php?id=186156