Boadway Bros.
FoundedOctober 1912; 111 years ago (1912-10)
FoundersBroadway Brothers

Boadway Bros. or Boadway's was a chain of upscale department stores in Southern California and New Mexico during the 1910s and 1920s, which started with a single store in Pasadena carrying furniture.

First Pasadena store

In October 1912, the Boadway Brothers opened a new furniture store on Colorado Boulevard near Marengo. It consisted of three stories of 75 ft x 25 ft each, 5,625 square feet (522.6 m2) total floor space, at a cost of $75,000.[1]

Starting November 20, 1912, the space was used as a Christmas Shop, for which the stock was valued between $5000 and $6000, and the store was to have 130 saleswomen, 24 floorwalkers, 50 "cash girls" (cashiers) and 50 waitresses.[2]

Second Pasadena store

On October 1, 1917, Boadway's opened a new Pasadena store and expanded to dry goods, apparel, thus becoming a mainline department store. It added dry goods, silks, velvets and other "highly specialized lines of merchandise" until acquiring a stock worth $250,000, including selected lines of furniture. A broad, grand staircase to the mezzanine floor was added. The mezzanine was to had four “salons” for display and fitting, each of a different decorative theme. The second floor shoed furniture and the top floor, draperies and carpets. New display fixtures were of mahogany and high-quality plate glass. Stock included imported and domestic lingerie and imported Italian underwear. The store's crowning mark was having a corsetière on site, a woman specialized in fitting and manufacturing corsets to order, in addition to selling high-quality ready-made corsets.[3]

Planned Hollywood & Vine store

Dr. Edward O. Palmer was to build a six-story, 110,000-square-foot (10,000 m2) store for Boadway's in Hollywood at Hollywood and Vine,[4][5] and in 1922, stock was sold to finance its construction.[6] After Boadway Bros. went out of business the next year, B. H. Dyas, a Downtown Los Angeles–based department store, opened in the building in 1927. The Broadway department store took over the building in 1931 and it continues to be known as the Broadway Hollywood Building.[7]

Store list

Boadway Bros. stores were acquired and liquidated as follows:

City Location Opened Acquired business of Sold to
Pasadena (first store) Colorado Boulevard near Marengo 1912 (new)
Pasadena (second store) 268 East Colorado Boulevard 1916 (new) Tooker-Jordan[8]
Albuquerque 1919 Golden Rule Dry Goods Co.[9]
Long Beach 411 Pine Avenue 1921 S. A. Schilling[10] Hugh A. Marti Co., early 1923[11]
San Bernardino E Street 1919 C. Cohn Dry Goods Co. Markell's department store[12]
Colton 125 Eighth Street 1918 Willets department store[13] Liquidates stock and closed store late 1918[14] NB: Willet’s re-opened a new store in Colton in later years.
San Diego 845 Fifth Avenue[15]
Hollywood Hollywood & Vine
now Broadway Hollywood Building 		(new) never opened as Boadway's; opened as B. H. Dyas in 1927

References

  1. ^ "Building Is Active: Several Modern Structures Projected in Crown City–Others Now Nearing Completion". Los Angeles Times. July 21, 1912. p. 85.
  2. ^ "Cities and Towns of Los Angeles County -". Los Angeles Times. November 17, 1912.
  3. ^ "Past on Parade: Boadway Brothers store had an in-house corsetiere". Los Angeles Daily News. March 7, 2010.
  4. ^ "Lease for Big Store Is Signed". Los Angeles Times. August 13, 1922. p. 85.
  5. ^ "Add Another Fine Store to String". Pasadena Post. June 17, 1922.
  6. ^ "Advertisement for Boadway Bros., Inc". Holly Leaves (magazine). July 1, 1922. p. 37. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  7. ^ Williams, Gregory Paul (2002). The Story of Hollywood. p. 233. ISBN 9780977629930.
  8. ^ "Advertisement for Tooker-Jordan". Pasadena Post. April 12, 1923.
  9. ^ "Advertisement for Boadway Bros". The Evening Herald (Albuquerque, New Mexico). July 15, 1919.
  10. ^ "Adds another to chain of stores: Boadway Bros purchases S. A. Schilling establishment in Long Beach". Pasadena Post. September 20, 1921.
  11. ^ "Advertisement for Boadway Long Beach store under new management by Marti Co". The Long Beach Telegram and The Long Beach Daily News. February 7, 1923.
  12. ^ "Advertisement for Markell's department store". San Bernardino County Sun. June 10, 1929.
  13. ^ "Boadway Bros. New Owners". San Bernardino County Sun. September 17, 1918.
  14. ^ "Boadway close Colton ex-Willets". The San Bernardino County Sun. 19 September 1918. p. 5.
  15. ^ "Advertisement for Boadway Bros". National City Star-News. June 27, 1919.
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