Boadway Bros.
 Boadway Bros.' store at 268 E. Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena, California, 1918 | |
| Founded | October 1912 |
|---|---|
| Founders | Broadway 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 Blvd. 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 1st store | Colorado Boulevard near Marengo | 1912 | (new) | |
| Pasadena 2nd store | 268 E. 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 St. | 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[15] | |||
| Hollywood | Hollywood & Vine now Broadway Hollywood Building |
(new) | never opened as Boadway's; opened as B. H. Dyas in 1927 |
References
- ^ "Building Is Active: Several Modern Structures Projected in Crown City–Others Now Nearing Completion". Los Angeles Times. July 21, 1912. p. 85.
- ^ "Cities and Towns of Los Angeles County -". Los Angeles Times. November 17, 1912.
- ^ "Past on Parade: Boadway Brothers store had an in-house corsetiere". Los Angeles Daily News. March 7, 2010.
- ^ "Lease for Big Store Is Signed". Los Angeles Times. August 13, 1922. p. 85.
- ^ "Add Another Fine Store to String". Pasadena Post. June 17, 1922.
- ^ "Advertisement for Boadway Bros., Inc". Holly Leaves (magazine). July 1, 1922. p. 37. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
- ^ Williams, Gregory Paul (2002). The Story of Hollywood. p. 233. ISBN 9780977629930.
- ^ "Advertisement for Tooker-Jordan". Pasadena Post. April 12, 1923.
- ^ "Advertisement for Boadway Bros". The Evening Herald (Albuquerque, New Mexico). July 15, 1919.
- ^ "Adds another to chain of stores: Boadway Bros purchases S. A. Schilling establishment in Long Beach". Pasadena Post. September 20, 1921.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Advertisement for Markell's department store". San Bernardino County Sun. June 10, 1929.
- ^ "Boadway Bros. New Owners". San Bernardino County Sun. September 17, 1918.
- ^ "Boadway close Colton ex-Willets". The San Bernardino County Sun. 19 September 1918. p. 5.
- ^ "Advertisement for Boadway Bros". National City Star-News. June 27, 1919.