Bridal Shop Fire Offers View Into 'Cutthroat Business'
CHICAGO (WBBM) - Authorities say there's no indication that this week's fire at Eva's Bridals in Oak Lawn was suspicious. But the attorney for the owners says he won't draw any conclusions until the investigation is done.
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"Here's the thing. I don't want to speculate but I know another competitor was sending out false letters and things like
that," said attorney Maurice Salem.
"I don't know. I would think most likely it's just an accident."
But Salem says, "It's a competitive business. It's a cutthroat business."
He says family that owns the Oak Lawn store--before being devastated by the fire--had already been torn apart by a federal lawsuit over the use of the name "Eva's Bridal."
The owners of Eva's Bridals in Oak Lawn had lost a round in federal court just a few months ago.
They had sued members of their own family who were operating a bridal shop in Orland Park under the "Eva's" name. And they'd lost and are now in the appeals process.
Salem says the family has been hit hard by the fire.
"Absolutely, absolutely. They're devastated. They've been working 30, 40 years at that place. And their business and
everything was going well for them, by the way."
Salem says the Orland Park part of the family had been paying $2,000 a month for use of the Eva's name - and at one point was paying $5,000 a month for the name. Payments that dried up.
