‘I’m livid’: Tux chain abruptly closes, leaving KC area employees, couples scrambling
The lights have been off at every Tip Top Tux shop in the Kansas City area this week.
At the Overland Park store, 5063 W. 119th St., a sign in the window reads: “Sorry, we are closed today. We apologize for any inconvenience. If you are a customer returning your tuxedo from the weekend, you will not be charged late fees, and you may keep your tuxedo.”
Other Kansas City area Tip Top Tux locations, in Lee’s Summit at 880 N.W. Blue Parkway and Zona Rosa at 8673 N.W. Prairie View Road, are closed, too.
Stores in other states appear to have been similarly shuttered overnight, with little explanation.
Drue Bettey-Donelson, who worked at the Lee’s Summit location, told The Star he received an early morning email on Monday alerting him that he and all other employees had been laid off.
He said he had worked for the company for 10 years.
“We were in shock to immediately close. As of now we know nothing,” he said in a written statement to The Star.
Stores in the Sioux City, Iowa, area closed suddenly after employees received an email at 2 a.m. Monday, reported news channel KTIV. The memo said Tip Top Tux’s parent company, Dapper & Dashing, was “compelled to cease operations immediately” without providing any details.
Dapper & Dashing and Tip Top Tux could not be reached for comment.
Notes in the stores’ windows direct customers to visit Dapper & Dashing’s website, dapperanddashing.com. In other states, the company owns American Commodore Tuxedo Store, Savvi Formalwear Store and Al’s Formal Wear Store.
The closures left couples across the metro with upcoming weddings scrambling.
“No email correspondence. No refunds. No communication at all,” wrote one Kansas City bride, who posted a picture of the signs in a store’s window on Facebook. “I’m livid, to say the least.”
Following the shutdown, several Kansas City formalwear shops are offering couples last minute help.
Todd’s Clothiers & Tailor Shop is providing rentals at its Crossroads location at 2030 Broadway Blvd. Starting packages to own a suit, shirt and tie are $250 for wedding parties.
“I feel horrible for these brides and grooms,” a spokesperson for Todd’s told The Star.
Other area wedding outfitters include Indochino at 444 Nichols Road and Slabotsky’s Menswear at 1118 Grand Blvd.