Boutique owner makes a duck

A case of theft has been opened against the owner of a Canal Walk clothing boutique who has allegedly skipped the country without telling anyone.

Bernadette Lifshitz closed Occassions (sic) bridal and evening wear store at the end of February without telling her staff or customers.

Fiona Earl put down a R500 deposit at the store for her daughter’s matric ball dress in January. She continued to pay the dress off with EFT payments.

Then at the beginning of last month, after she had already paid off R5000 of the R6000 dress, she discovered the shop had closed.

She tried to get hold of Ms Lifshitz by calling and sending her messages on Facebook but without success.

She said one of the designers at the store had then offered to make the same dress for R2000.

“Two days before the dance, the designer told me she could not finish the dress. I then had to collect the half-finished dress from her and have someone else finish it.

“I thought I had all my ducks in a row by ordering the dress months in advance. I now had to run around frantically to get my daughter a new dress in less than 48 hours, and this cost me even more,” said Ms Earl.

She has opened a case of theft against Ms Lifshitz at Milnerton police station.

Police spokeswoman Captain Adriana Chandler said police were investigating.

Tabletalk called Ms Lifshitz’s number but it went straight to voicemail.

Tabletalk asked Canal Walk if there was any recourse for Occassions customers, but the mall’s spokeswoman Vanessa Herbst said only that the store’s lease had come to an end and not been renewed.