The grand opening of Cynthia Gayle's bridal salon in 1994 received plenty of attention-but not the type any entrepreneur or banker would want to see.
My Fair Lady's entire inventory of bridal gowns, including five for upcoming weddings, was stolen on the eve of the store's opening in a 5,000 square-foot storefront on a busy street in the Bronx.
The bridal salon's inventory was insured but the damage to Ms. Gayle's business made it difficult for her to meet expenses and pay the $9,000 monthly rent on the store.
"I knew I could make a good comeback but bankers aren't used to looking at things that way," Ms. Gayle said.
Although she spent the next three years and most of her personal assets rebuilding the business in a much smaller location, the robbery and the mark it left on her credit made it difficult to obtain a bank loan.
"I shopped around at the banks, but given the robbery and what it did to my history, they weren't interested," she said.
In March, My Fair Lady received a $50,000 three-year term loan from the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corp.'s community development loan fund supported by the New York State government and five area banks.
The South Bronx loan fund and other community loan funds are expanding as banks are required to comply this year with revised Community Reinvestment Act regulations.
The participation of five additional banks will help the South Bronx group increase its revolving fund from $600,000 to $1 million by August. The group makes loans between $5,000 and $50,000.
"We do the type of lending that takes four to six months to make a loan," said Neil Pariser, vice president of the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation.
"The business owners normally don't do the type of bookkeeping a bank would require and they might not have a written business plan," Mr. Pariser said.
With the $50,000 loan, Ms. Gayle last month moved the bridal salon and its nine employees into a 3,200 square-foot remodeled warehouse on a busy street close to the bus and subway stations.
"If I could translate all the compliments we have gotten on the new store into dollars, I would be rich already," said Ms. Gayle, who designs and manufactures dresses and rents tuxedos.
She said she has used most of the $50,000 loan remodeling the building to create dressing rooms and the right ambience to sell wedding apparel.
Ms. Gayle said the new store has plenty of walk-in customers and sales have already increased. But she said she needs more capital to expand inventory to include more of the accessories for formal dresses.
"I have the equipment, that is not a problem, but I need more working capital to add inventory because we get so many requests for things we don't carry," she said.
She wants to increase marketing efforts and expand promotions for dyeable shoes, pillows for ring bearers, and free tuxedo rentals for grooms who rent tuxedos at the store for their ushers.
Ms. Gayle said she is especially determined to expand the new store to make up for the hard times she and her two children experienced after her store was robbed.
"I want to get rich," she said. "I lost a lot because I had invested everything I had in that business. When you go all the way down, you want to raise yourself up even higher." u
