Bay Area Bridal / New Things West

I’m so sad that they have closed. Last summer, I was there with my bridesmaids, not only looking for our dresses, but finding them! I had just recently lost my bridal gown and wasn’t looking forward to hunting for a new one. Lisbeth, the employee who worked with my girls and I, asked to see a picture of the dress and was able to find one similar to it, but it was so beautiful when I put it on. My girls and I had a wonderful day there, and I’ll never forget the kindness from the employees and the variety and quality of the dresses.

Found so many great things!!! They are going out of business and are having an amazing sale! The staff was super helpful. I’ve probably been back there 3 times looking for more stuff before they close there doors. They are only open for another week so get there before they close!

Just had an amazing experience here! I am not a dress person and was pretty nervous about dress shopping but the staff here was absolutely awesome! So helpful and courteous, and I got a great deal on a bursting up dress. Thanks so much, and I’m sad this place is closing — very rare to find such nice people who are so helpful and genuine.

It’s a nice place to look for affordable wedding gowns. Multiple staff came up to us to assist us. You don’t need to make an appointment to try on the wedding gowns. But if you want to put a dress on hold you’ll have to put a deposit. It’s first come first serve. They help us put the dress number on their computer, so it will be easy for us to find it next time. The lady told us it takes 6 weeks to do the alteration and may cost between 3 – 400 dollars. Some dresses has running threads and missing beads but the whole store is discounted. They have spacious fitting rooms with lots of mirrors and platforms. More than other boutiques I’ve been to. Lots of shoes and accessories to pair with your outfit. Definitely a one stop shop. Nice place to visit if you want a wide range of selections.

Went «looking» for the dress, heard they were doing a close out sale. Thought I’d check it out.
Walked in and we were greeted right away.
Kara was AMAZING, sweet and patient!!! She assisted us with looking, trying and helping me in every way possible. Trying and looking for a dress is definitely overwhelming. Overall, I had a wonderful experience finding the dress with my bestie by my side, wouldn’t have had it any other way!

Wish they would have told me that the store is going out of business. Went there and was really surprise that there was hardly anything to pick from. The customer service sucks ass! The girl look like she didn’t want to be there. The whole experience was just awful. Don’t waste your time to go here guys. Trust me !

I came in during the «door buster sale» and unfortunately for this store (but fortunately for me) all the floor samples were 50% off! I found an amazingly detailed sequined and laced Art Deco vintage style wedding gown in which I would not have otherwise be able to afford. Though I called a few days ahead and was told that there are no consultants to help during the «sale» period, the consultant and owner were nice enough to provide their support during my visit, including the usual services of clipping gowns, pulling dresses, providing slip upon request etc (though probably much less tentative then the service you would get had you made an appointment) but for 50% off, totally worth it.

Me and my friend, the bride, had an awesome experience here at this shop! Everybody was so friendly and accommodating –they were very happy to assist us with whatever we wanted, within reason, of course! :)
It started out with us arriving, at our scheduled time, and after waiting for a couple of minutes, we were seen to and my friend began informing her of her open-​minded style choices. In less than fifteen minutes, she was trying on her selection of dresses (inner screams of joy)! –11 to be exact ;) It was a great 2 hours (or so) and our girls (I forgot their names!) really knew they’re stuff –I know that I’ve learned a couple of things from them today. And thanks to them, my friend found her dress! She said «yes to the dress», lol.
The second girl, that helped us out, even complimented me on being a good person to bring to a fitting since I didn’t push or shove my opinions at the future bride :) Whoever you are, thank you! (If I ever find out your/​her name, I’ll update this asap!) But anyway, 10 out of 10!
Plus, since they’re closing soon, everything is 50% off, which is a definite bonus.

I had a great experience finding my wedding dress here! Kara had helped me into all of my dresses! She was so patient and helpful and very sweet! I’m sad they’re closing this place down, both of my sisters and myself had purchased our wedding dresses here.
Thank you again Kara!

I love this store and I’m sad to hear it is having its retirement sale because this is where I found my wedding dress. After visiting several bridal shops for my wedding dress and several weekends of trying on dresses, I found a dress online that I really wanted to try on but that very few stores had. I gave Bay Area Bridal a call last minute, asked if they had the dress, and when they said yes, asked if I could just stop by to see the dress. When I arrived, the owner insisted I go ahead and try on the dress even though I did not have an appointment, and the rest is history.

At the risk of sounding like an angry Unilocaler, this has been the worst customer service experience I’ve ever had. I took my family friend shopping for her wedding dress here. She just arrived from a foreign country and had a pretty low budget, so we shopped in their $ 499 and below store — which was in a room next door. The dresses were all stained and torn. The only dress that my friend liked was very big on her (it was a size 10 and she’s a size 6). Before committing to the dress, we asked an employee from the store what the price range for alterations would be. I specifically explained to her the changes that needed to be made and she confidently told me it would be around $ 40…“definitely under $ 100″. I remember being surprised about the cost, but hey, if they’re still selling stained and torn dresses I figured maybe their alterations were below par as well. When we came back for alterations after purchasing the dress, we were quoted a massive $ 400. WHICH WAS AS MUCH AS THE DRESS COST. If they were in the position to pay $ 800 for a dress, we wouldn’t have been shopping in the section where wedding dresses go to die.
We explained to them that we only bought the dress because we were told alterations wouldn’t be over $ 100. The best the manager could offer was store credit (the bride was never told the dress was final sale — but apparently it’s on the receipt. Don’t you read the fine print on every receipt you get??). Needless to say, the bride wasn’t going to consider another bay area bridal dress.
Apparently this wasn’t the first time that particular employee (Robin is her name I believe) has misquoted alteration prices. But according to the manager, our situation MUST have been a misunderstanding. I told Robin we were looking at a huge dress for a tiny girl. What would she have assumed I meant? How much it would cost to alter 10% of the dress?! Obviously we took the dress to be altered elsewhere.
In hindsight I should have known the price was too low, but I’ve never been wedding dress shopping or even had a regular dress altered before. However, I had no reason to question an employee from the store who you would assume is pretty knowledgeable about these things. I’m definitely going to take this issue to upper management. Disgraceful business practices.

I came here for my very first wedding gown shopping experience during the Allure trunk show. I had my future mother and sister-​in-​law, my mom, my niece, and my sister with me. I was thrilled to have my family there to help me with dress shopping.
We arrived and they were obviously running behind. We waited for about 20 – 30 minutes before my consultant brought us to a fitting area, then left. My sister was helping me into my gowns, which I preferred. After about 3 dresses, the consultant randomly showed up again, barged into the fitting room, and SHOVED me into my next dress. When discussing what we thought with my family, the consultant (interrupting our conversation) said VERY loudly, «Well, if it is’t THE DRESS, just come back and try another one!» It was extremely rude. I felt rushed. I was not comfortable. At the end of the appointment (which was not even the full hour I was promised, by the way) the consultant basically kicked us out.
The two stars:
1. The staff was so nice to my 8 year-​old niece.
2. The consultant, while rude and impatient, was extremely good at picking out gowns based on what I liked and disliked about the others. She picked two dresses that were gorgeous. Exactly the style I loved!
Sadly, even if it turns out I want to purchase a dress I tried on here, I will never be back and will never recommend this place to any of my friends.

The worst experience I’ve ever had. They held me up for an hour pretending they were going to help and then AS I’m trying dresses to tell me they can’t help me because I hadn’t gotten an appointment… An hour after I’ve been getting helped.
Absolutely horrible experience and I would not recommend anyone to go here!
Seriously.

AMAZING CUSTOMER SERVICE!
I don’t even think amazing covers it! I have worked in customer service for a long time and I couldn’t be more happy with my experience.
I came in to this store alone. I knew exactly which dress I wanted but Nikki went above and beyond to help me with my dress shopping. I got extra dresses she picked out that were exactly my style. She helped me try on dresses and gave me great feedback. She not only took pictures for me but also helped me FaceTime my mom in Alaska. If that isn’t going above and beyond I don’t know what is.
I was hesitant to buy because the dress was more expensive than I saw online, she matched the price like it was no big deal.
She is amazing and really has a lot of experience doing this and it truly shows. Not to mention the other two ladies were all smiles and Kara helped me over the phone and she was just as pleasant.
Thank you Nikki and all the staff for helping me through such a big day all by myself.

To the people who want a deal for their «dream» wedding: BEWARE OF THIS PLACE. I’d rather shell out a few extra hundred bucks knowing that I will not be cheated and mistreated once a complication comes along.
Case in point: Bridal party (10 total) ordered a dress in a BLUSH color — according to the swatch that Miss Attitude Lizbet has shown us. BUT THE DRESS CAME IN FOUR MONTHS LATER IN A DIFFERENT COLOR. And apparently, that was our fault. Deposit not willing to give back. Even Dress not willing to exchange. Ooooooookay.
To whoever the person is in position higher than Nikki: (we don’t know who that is since Nikki REFUSED to give out that information. hmm wonder why)
I hope you know that great customer service should never be contingent on just the products you can deliver. Despite the «miscommunication» you keep telling yourself and your employees, I hope you know deep down your thick skin that THAT «miscommunication» was and should’ve been on YOUR END. You, as well as your manufacturers, should know this basic aspect of great customer service and take blame for the bad information, the mismatched color swatches, and take the initiate to FIX it. I hope that whoever have gotten the sales from our deposit can sleep comfortably tonight because you have failed to do your ONE job (and I really hope you know what that is) But I suppose that is no longer my business.

Don’t waste your time!
This store is located at a mall– the weirdest mall I’ve ever been to. Kinda feels like you’re in a horror movie. I will give them a little credit, store does carry a few good designer dresses but it doesn’t make up for the whack customer service and you can find these same designers elsewhere. The girl who helped me was sick and had lost her voice so communication was bad… I initially felt bad for her, she was nice but definitely gave off the vibe she didn’t really care and was rushing the whole process. As a future bride, this is a special moment– searching for «the» dress and I didn’t appreciate her rush vibes. I’m sure she just didn’t feel good but this is why people shouldn’t go to work when they’re sick. spreading germs and giving bad service.

To be fair, I should have known 100% the level of customer service I was going to receive based on the unfortunate location of this business in ghost town mall otherwise known as Valco.
Unfortunately I’m having one hell of a challenging time finding adequate bridesmaid dresses for my party of 6 so I put a search out on Unilocal to see what we would find.
So I called New Things West and asked if we could schedule an appointment to try on some bridesmaids dresses and was told «you can only try on bridesmaid dresses here if the bride purchased her dress here»
…
Let that sink in for a second. A Bay Area business… turning away 6 potential clients. How is that even possible? That can’t even be real, right?
And I must say that’s such a flawed policy, why does it matter 1. If I have my dress or 2. If I purchased it from their business?
That’s fine with me I can take my bridesmaids business elsewhere.

When it comes to finding a wedding dress I never once imagined that it would be difficult! I’m a super fan of the TLC show «Say Yes to The Dress» and «Four Weddings» .I record and watch these show religiously… and while it’s always mind boggling to know some people spend fortunes on their wedding dress… I am a bride on a budget and I always knew that I won’t be able to buy a luxurious designer wedding dress fit. However, I also felt that MOST people don’t have money to buy $ 10,000 dresses and there must be something out there that will not drain the pocket book.
I visited 3 other bridal salons prior to my visit to BAB/​NTW. As a matter of fact, I was reluctant to go here because of the not so stellar reviews on Unilocal AND it sounded like the store is like David’s Bridal which was the first place I visited.
However, a couple of my girlfriends actually purchased their dresses here and one of them informed me of the $ 300 OFF end-​of-​year promo that I decided to make an appointment to check it out. Basically, all the dresses were $ 300 off the price tags if you get the sample dress (what you see on the rack is what you’re taking home).
On my first appointment, I had Mary as my consultant. I picked out a couple of dresses that I was interested to try on and she picked about 5 – 6 other dresses for me to try. The first 4 gowns were all in similar shape (I showed her what I liked from my past appointments at the other two salons) so it started to just look the same and I had a hard time distinguishing the dresses… Mary though, was very skillful in putting dresses on me, she knew exactly how to clip the dresses to make them look fitted (lots of the samples were either too big or too small).and she’s very good at lacing the dress too! Most importantly, she was not pushy and didn’t rush me at all! which I really really really appreciative about!
The next dresses were in different shapes, materials and styles… so I finally narrowed down to about 4 of my favorite. I was not ready to make a commitment since I started to feel overwhelmed and I went by myself. Mary jotted down the 4 dresses that were my top favorite and I made a second appointment to see a few more for the next day. Yes, lets just say I was so ready to check it off my wedding list, getting a dress before the new year… in addition, their $ 300 OFF promo was expiring. so the «budget bride in me» was telling me «make up your mind quick!!»
After my appointment, I stayed for another 20 – 30 minutes to look at the dresses on the rack. Sandy, the store owner, spotted me looking at the dresses and offered to write down the dresses so that I could try them on my next appointment. Honestly, I was really appreciative of this as it would save some time on my next appointment. Thanks Sandy!
The next day I had Nikki as my consultant. There were some negative reviews about Nikki here on Unilocal and I have to admit that I was a bit anxious. However, I realized I had to give her a chance as I noticed that some people only write reviews for bad experiences!
Anyway… Nikki pulled out a couple of the dresses from my top pick the previous day (as I requested) and a couple more from my pick. I asked her to pick a few for me but she told me that she wanted to see me in dresses to see what my body is like first before she made her own selection, that’s actually very thoughtful and smart!
After about 5 dresses of my pick… Nikki went SHOPPING… she brought back a few dresses for me to try on… I have to say that Nikki picked great dresses that fit my shape and my taste very well. Then… the last dress of the day was there, hanging in the fitting room… I was looking at it and said, «well, this is different» and deep inside I was like…“hmmm maybe not my style”…I put it on anyway and guess what. I was just stunned… I never thought I would pick such a dress and I just felt very glamourous… very bridal. I felt like a bride! As crazy as it sounds… I really was in disbelieved that a dress with a fitted top all the way to the my hips, fully beaded like hollywood red-​carpet dress, and fluffy bottom. would be my kind of wedding dress! The best of all… it was by Maggie Sottero which is one of my favorite bridal designer (I had actually imagined and browsed her dresses few years ago when I dreamt of wedding and decided that it was out of my reach. budget wise)…It truly was like a dream comes true and I have to thank Nikki and Sandy for this!
My Maggie Sottero dress was an older style, it was on sale (about 30% off the tag price) but at the end… I got about 60% off the price tag which is a very very very great wonderful deal! love love love it!
Nikki informed me that I could get 10−15% off on bridemaid and other gowns for the wedding party too since I bought my wedding dress there… yippie!
Again, thank you BAB/​NTW for giving me great experiences shopping for my wedding dress!

In my quest to find a wedding dress I went to Bay Area Bridal. I went by myself and I wan’t sure how that was going to go.
I have an evening appointment on a weekday around 6pm. I worked with Nikki. OMG this girl has experience, and I mean she really listens to you and is able to find you what you are looking for. And while the sample dress may be too big or to small she really knows what to do to give you an «idea» of what the dress would look like in your size.
They are one of the few places that have Paloma Blanca, beautiful gowns. They also have Maggie and Casablanca, two great designers. I did like one CasaBlanca gown, but my family didn’t really agree.
Over all great experience. The only thing to consider is that they only allow you to come in three times to see dresses, after then they charge you $ 50, unless you buy the gown there. Oh and they only allow an entourage of 3 people per guest.

I went to Bay Area Bridal after a horrendous experience with David’s Bridal. It seem like my stylist was on lunch and I didn’t mind waiting for her. I was oohh and ahh –ing at the many bridal dresses in the store. I got checked in and was approached by a really nice lady. She asked about my preferences and budget. I waited a little bit and Chloe approached me. She said she was going to assist me since my stylist was still on lunch.
I told Chloe my budget, a designer I had in mind and my preferences. She walked my girls and I over to our area and she went to pull the dresses. There was one dress she pulled that was not in my budget and I really did not want to try it because I didn’t want to be stuck if I was to fall in love with it. I decided to keep an open mind and tried it. Didn’t fall in love with it but it was a beautiful dress. Chloe listened and connected with us like she was one of the girls. She was wonderful to work with. She was amaze-​balls!
We got a lot done that day and trimmed it down to two dresses which I am completely torn between. Got a lot of thinking to do and will be back to decide on a dress.
Thank you Chloe for such a fun Sunday!