As you walk in the door the various types of dresses surround the store, and your eyes are opened to a whole new world of glamour and beauty. The suns rays bounce off of a million sparkles, and light floods into the main room of the store.

Kelly’s Closet Bridal Shop owner, Kelly Hobbs has been working her magic with brides for almost 20 years, but when the pandemic hit, Hobbs and her staff had to come up with a new way to run the store.

“We closed for about three months,” owner Kelly Hobbs said. “It was huge. We used to be open 7 days a week, and then we closed one day a week. We had never been closed for even two days in a row, so it was a big shift.”

Hobbs’ business was entirely built on the intimate and personal aspect of picking a wedding dress. Hobbs wanted her store to be as stress-free for the bride as possible, but the pandemic presented indescribable challenges for Hobbs and her staff.

“We got much more comfortable with video conferencing, and we did a lot of appointments through our front window,” Hobbs said. “We would invite the families to sit on the sidewalk and they were able to view the appointment through the front window.” 

Part-time staff member Annie D’Agostino has been working with Hobbs for roughly three years. The staff had to change the way they ran their store, including taking many precautions to try and prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

“We have really strict protocols in place, and we’ve had these protocols the whole time,” D’Agostino said. “We have required masks from the beginning, even when the CDC said vaccinated people don’t have to wear masks, we required them no matter what. For months we steamed every single gown that was tried on by a bride, but that was something that we didn’t really know if it was necessary or not. We knew steam killed viruses, so we were like ‘well we need to keep everyone safe no matter what.’”

While the pandemic brought many challenges to the business, Hobbs has managed to make the bride the priority at all times. 

“The key thing that I liked about it was that they had unique things,” former client Marnie Zambri said. “They really went out of their way to make me feel comfortable. I love the way they did that.” 

Zambri was pregnant at the time of buying her wedding dress, and needed a dress that would fit her months after purchasing it. Kelly’s Closet helped her achieve that. 

“Kelly’s Closet was the last place I went to,” Zambri said. “First of all, they had things that were unique and I hadn’t seen them anywhere else. Second, they were able to find a dress that not only fit my style, but also  that would grow with me.” 

This locally owned store wasn’t about to forfeit to the wrath of covid, instead they rose to the occasion and added something great to the community. 

“The busier I am and the longer the store has been around for, my job becomes other things,” Hobbs said. “…I feel like I appreciate it more when I get to work with brides. During the pandemic, we had to change the way we did things, but I was still able to keep what was important about my business the same.”