About Us
What We Are
Broadway Costumes is a brick-and-mortar family owned and operated business, with the 3rd generation leading the way. We are Sacramento's leading Costume Rental & Supply Store, specializing in historical costuming for Adults & Children.
We specialize in providing costumes for theater and the arts, for themed parties, murder-mystery dinners, birthday parties, work events, school events such as field trips to Sutter's Fort, Rhoads School, McFarland Ranch, and the Bernhard Museum, and for plays, book reports, wax museum events and famous person reports. Our Costume Rentals are extremely affordable. We are also the leading provider of theatrical quality make-up from such companies as Ben Nye, Kryolan, Mehron, Wolfe FX, and more to the Sacramento area! These makeups are also excellent for home use - check us out!
In addition to costume rentals and makeup sales, we also have other accessories for sale such as hats, wigs, beards, mustaches, latex prosthetics, eyelashes, temporary tattoos, swords, face masks, costume jewelry and many other items.
History
Founded in 1965 by Mrs. Juanita Belle (Wells) Petrali and her husband, Mr. Peter "Pete" Joseph Petrali. Pete was owner of Petrali's Stage and Theatrical Lighting Co. and Juanita was owner of Broadway Pet Store. The pet shop was on the corner of 31st & Broadway in Sacramento, California.
Juanita decided to close down the pet store and started Broadway Theatrical Supply House. She supplied costume materials, dance school supplies, sequins & patterns, and items available from Pete's business, to the burgeoning theatrical community of Sacramento, as well as making costumes as needed. The business was briefly moved to a larger store front in Oak Park at 3400 3rd Avenue, but as the business continued to grow, she decided to get more into supplying costumes and made the decision to buy out a costume shop in Los Angeles for $10k. She then went about creating Broadway Costumes and Theatrical Supply.
Juanita enjoyed much success especially during the Halloween seasons. Catering to parties, school plays and other theatrical events with costume rentals, Juanita also stocked the shelves with novelties, makeup, wigs, beards, and costume accessories to make the rental experience complete.
Employing many staff during August, September and October, the "busy season", the business soon out-grew it's current location and Juanita and Pete moved everything in 1972 to a larger location on Fulton Avenue in Sacramento. They stayed there for 2 years and after purchasing a location on Franklin Blvd. and having the current building completed, they moved to the new location in 1974.
Broadway Costumes expanded to a 2nd location in the late 70's at Watt & Auburn Blvd. but closed it down a few years later as more and more costume shops opened up in town.
Juanita and Pete both retired in 1984 and sold the business to 2 of their daughters, Karen and Kathy, and their husbands, Don Meadows and Dana Felgenhauer. Karen and Don eventually sold their half of the business in 1988 to Kathy and Dana.
Dana retired in 2009 and Kathy retired in 2014. Karen's son and daughter-in-law, Larry and Deanna Dockter, now own and manage the business and the day-to-day operations and are continuing on with the family legacy and traditions.
One little tidbit to share is that back when Juanita couldn't keep up with demand and she bought out that costume shop mentioned above, was that the buyout included many vintage pieces that were used in the early years of TV and the Hollywood movie industry in Los Angeles. One particular piece that I wanted to point out is this pair of pants pictured from that purchase. They are a pair of pinstripe pants that were made by Sy Devore of Hollywood. If you look in the band of the pants (zoom in on the 2nd picture), you'll see who they were made for and the date. Yep - Dean Martin in 1953! I don't have any more information other than that. All of the pants, suits and dresses from that buyout had tags as to who made them and who they were made for - all big names of the era from Hollywood. So now you know the quality of the clothing that we make available for your rental use! (Unfortunately, this tag is the only one that has survived the test of time as the others were removed and forever lost.)
Here's a picture of Pete and Juanita at the wedding of their daughter Kathy in 1970:
And here's the entire Petrali Family in 1976 on the occasion of Pete and Juanita's 50th Wedding Anniversary:
Karen and Don Meadows, previous owners:
Kathy and Dana Felgenhauer, previous owners:
Who We Are Now
Larry and Deanna Dockter, current owners:
Ok, a second little tidbit to add, is the addition of the mural to the front of the building in 2021. We were struggling with what to do with the storefront, and by chance came across a local artist who had this wonderful idea for a dragon. Thank you to Lauren Wolf who designed and painted our mural. We get a lot of great compliments from customers who drive in just because they saw the mural!
Warning - some of the links below will take you to other websites not managed by Broadway Costumes!
As Seen on TV:
Click here 
to see an advertisement video we ran in 2002 highlighting our shop
(large download >10mb)
As seen in the printed Press:
Click here to see a Sacramento City College article on December 24, 2020, showing how we're still helping students during the COVID-19 Pandemic!
Click here to see a Sacramento City College article on February 16, 2022, on how we are still helping students as they return to campus after the COVID-19 Pandemic is starting to ease!
Featured in the National Costumers Association Costumer Magazine:
Click here to see an article featuring Broadway Costumes in the National Costumer's Assocation Summer 2024 magazine published July 11, 2024, on How to Rock Costume Rentals! (Go to Page 16 to see the article.)
Click here to see our My Favorite Costume article featuring Broadway Costumes in the National Costumer's Assocation Spring 2019 magazine published February 2019! (Go to Page 28 to see the article.)
Click here to see all the past Costumer Magazine issues from the National Costumer's Assocation
As seen in Social Media:
Click here to see a YouTube video for the band Mad Mother Nature's video "Mad Oklahoma" to see our costumes In Action!
See our Photos and Videos on Facebook
See our Photos and Videos on Google
See our Photos and Videos on Instagram
See our Photos and Videos on TikTok