INSIDE EDITION speaks with a bridal store owner who is forced to close up shop after an Ebola scare that killed the business.
This store is about to die. Cause of death? Ebola!
It's the bridal shop in Akron, Ohio, where nurse Amber Vincent shopped the day before she was diagnosed with Ebola.
Even though the shop has been decontaminated, shoppers are still afraid to go there. Owner Anna Younker says she has no other choice but to go out of business.
"I know she didn't plan on causing any panic here," Younker told INSIDE EDITION. "Brides were very afraid. Very afraid."
She says she tried in vain to save the store, expanding into men's formal wear, and even tapping into her personal retirement funds to keep it going. To no avail. The staff is being laid off.
Store manager Kayla Lizt is five months pregnant and is not happy about losing her job.
"The word death goes with Ebola. It scares people," said Lizt. "I don't think I can walk into a place and say, 'Hey, will you give me a job?' "
Last week, a giant liquidation sale began.
Lizt told customers on the phone, "We're doing 50-80% off everything in stock."
Everything is going at bargain basement prices.
"I bought my bridesmaid dresses here 20 years ago," said one customer.
Wedding gowns are 60% off.
One bridal customer said, "I'm not worried about Ebola. I think it's ridiculous."
Dresses just $25 bucks.
High school seniors are flocking to the store. One senior said, "The prices are really low, so we're coming to look."
Younker says, unless some kind of miracle happens, her business is doomed--an unintended victim of Ebola hysteria.
"Ebola has become a big nightmare for us. It's put us out of business," said Younker.
