MENTOR, Ohio — Patience in the pandemic paid off for one Northeast Ohio woman. After fulfilling her dream of opening her own business, she's now blazing a trail in the fashion world.
This story takes us to Mentor, where bride-to-be Shellice Fuller is saying "yes to the dress" while supporting a unique undertaking.
Fuller’s search began and ended at A. Daley Bridal.
"She has every dress that you can think of to try on," said Fuller.
Owner Alyssia Daley opened her shop just prior to the pandemic on Valentine's Day 2020.
"We were only opened a month, we didn't even get any traction," said Daley.
Shuttered for two months, the social worker turned bridal gown designer got priced-out of her first location and set up shop inside the Great Lakes Mall.
"When we moved to the mall, I was like this is going to be great, it's going to be excellent, there's going to be people, but then COVID-19 was still very much a thing and people didn't want to go out, people were canceling their weddings left and right," said Daley.
In order to stand out and survive, Daley decided to shift her focus to creating custom wedding dresses.
"I fell in love with just the sketch," said Fuller.
Now Daley has positioned herself as one of only a handful of black bridal designers in the country.
"I feel very blessed in the position to really forward my community by being this trailblazer in creating beautiful designs for our brides," said Daley.
The success she's seen in just a few short years inspired Daley to roll out her own line of dresses.
"We've seen immense support from the Cleveland area. As a designer of color, I've always said I wanted to do something big with my art and I'm happy I get to do it," said Daley.
With a July 2023 wedding on the horizon, customers like Fuller are also happy Daley didn't throw in the towel when times got tough.
"It was an amazing experience. She got me the dress that I wanted in the amount of money I wanted to spend. It has the right amount of bling, it has the perfect train on it," said Fuller.
