Boadway Bros.

Not to be confused with The Broadway.

Boadway Bros.

File:Boadway Bros. Pasadena 1918.jpg Boadway Bros.' retail location at 268 E. Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena, California, circa 1918
Founded	October 1912 (1912-10)
Founders	Broadway Brothers

Boadway Bros. or Boadway's was a prominent upscale department stores chain operating in Southern California and New Mexico throughout the 1910s and 1920s, originating from a single Pasadena store specializing in furniture.

Initial Pasadena location

In October 1912, the Boadway Brothers inaugurated a furniture outlet on Colorado Boulevard near Marengo. This establishment encompassed three floors, each measuring 75 by 25 feet, totaling approximately 5,625 square feet (522.6 m²) of retail area, constructed at an expense of $75,000.

Beginning November 20, 1912, the premises operated as a Christmas Shop featuring inventory valued between $5,000 and $6,000. The store employed a workforce comprising 130 saleswomen, 24 floor supervisors, 50 cashiers referred to as "cash girls," and an additional 50 waitresses.

Expansion with second Pasadena location

On October 1, 1917, Boadway's launched a new department store in Pasadena that broadened its offerings to include dry goods and apparel, thus establishing itself as a full-line department store. The inventory was expanded to feature dry goods, silks, velvets, and other specialized merchandise categories until the stock reached an estimated value of $250,000, which also included select furniture lines. A wide and elegant staircase led up to the mezzanine level, which housed four distinct “salons” designed for product display and customer fittings, each showcasing unique decorative themes. The second floor exhibited furniture selections while the top floor displayed draperies and carpets. Fixtures were crafted from mahogany combined with premium plate glass. The merchandise assortment featured both imported and domestic lingerie as well as Italian-made underwear. A notable highlight of the store was its on-site corsetière—a female expert who custom-fitted and produced corsets to order alongside offering high-quality ready-to-wear corsets.

Proposed Hollywood & Vine location

Dr. Edward O. Palmer planned to construct a six-story retail building encompassing approximately 110,000-square-foot (10,000 m²) for Boadway's at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood. In 1922, shares were sold to fund the building’s development. Following Boadway Bros.' closure in the subsequent year, the Downtown Los Angeles–based department store B. H. Dyas occupied the site in 1927. Later in 1931, The Broadway department store assumed control of the property, which remains known today as the Broadway Hollywood Building.

Store list

The following details the acquisition and disposition of Boadway Bros. retail locations:

City	Location	Opening Year	Acquired From	Transferred To
Pasadena (initial store)	Near Marengo on Colorado Boulevard	1912	Established as a new store
Pasadena (second location)	268 East Colorado Boulevard	1916	Newly established	Tooker-Jordan
Albuquerque		1919	Golden Rule Dry Goods Co.
Long Beach	411 Pine Avenue	1921	S. A. Schilling	Hugh A. Marti Co. (Marti's), early 1923
San Bernardino	E Street	1919	C. Cohn Dry Goods Co.	Markell's department store
Colton	125 Eighth Street	1918	Willets department store	Store inventory liquidated and closed by late 1918; Willet’s later resumed operations in Colton with a new location.
San Diego	845 Fifth Avenue
Hollywood	Hollywood & Vine currently known as the Broadway Hollywood Building		Opened as a new site but never operated under Boadway's; subsequently launched as B. H. Dyas in 1927.