Bridal store rising from ashes
By Jaime Angio Correspondent October 12, 2011 6:44PM
Ronia Ghusein, owner of Eva's Bridal, is excited about moving from her temporary space into a new store at 5269 W. 95th Street in Oak Lawn. | Brett Roseman~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: November 16, 2011 2:01PM
Determined to make it through the worst part of owning a bridal boutique, Ronia Ghusein, owner of Eva’s Bridal in Oak Lawn, is looking forward to the better part.
Last November, flames ravaged the 45-year-old family-owned business in a strip mall at 95th Street and Cicero Avenue.
The boutique is temporarily housed at Fred Fox Studios on Cicero Avenue, just five blocks from where the fire occurred.
“It’s been a very transitional year, an unexpected transition, but you just have to look at the bright side of everything,” Ghusein said. “Being in the temporary location, has been an organizational year.”
Ghusein has been busy planning the new store, scheduled to open Nov. 1 at 5269 W. 95th St.
“We made everything a little more streamlined (in the new store),” she said.
The store at 95th and Cicero initially was small when her parents bought it in the early 1980s, Ghusein said. As the business expanded, “it was kind of laid out a little bit unique for lack of a better word, not as streamlined as we would have liked it to be, but we had to make it work, so the new store flows nicer and more efficiently,” she said.
“Because of the fire, I had the opportunity to omit some policies and practices, omit some designers that maybe we feel didn’t capture the area and to add designers we felt did a better job,” Ghusein said.
Since the fire, customers have been understanding, she said.
“They were so great. All of us know it was a transition, obviously, and they’ve all been wonderful. Where I would be personally without my customers and staff, I don’t know,” Ghusein said.
While this year was certainly filled with changes for Eva’s Bridal, one more event came Ghusein’s way.
Brides Magazine awarded Eva’s Bridal with the “Editor Choice Award” for 2011.
“Winning this award, really just helped us put everything into perspective,” Ghusein said. “It’s nice to know people still think of us in that way. After a fire, you kind of get a little nervous. You know, out of sight, out of mind. It didn’t happen that way for us, and we’re so thankful for that.”
Expectations for the new store are on the bright side, according to Ghusein.
Customers already have appointments for the opening day and the weeks that follow, she said. “We hope only the best.”
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