Dolly's Boutique closes every year right after prom season ends and doesn't reopen until the week after Labor Day. That one habit sums up the shop. Prom is the whole business here. According to its site, Dolly's specializes in high school prom and formals, and it runs its whole calendar around them.
The family behind it has been doing this since 1985, and its site brands it NEPA's #1 Prom Store since 1985. Dolly started it with one goal, and the shop still frames everything around service and satisfaction, for the customer and for the sales associate. It's family owned and operated, and its site lists it as a prom, semi-formal and homecoming specialty boutique.
From the Hill Section to downtown
From 1985 until its move downtown, Dolly's lived on Prescott Avenue in Scranton's Hill Section. Generations of Scranton girls made the trip up the hill for their gowns, and the shop thanks every one of those customers, from the very first on. In 2024 the family decided to move downtown to Wyoming Avenue. The shop calls the move bittersweet, then adds that it couldn't be happier in the new spot.
Downtown brings a parking upside. Meter parking is free on weekends and in the evening, and the store points shoppers to parking at The Marketplace at Steamtown, which offers free parking for short visits and up to three hours with a validated ticket. That covers a fitting with a mom and a best friend in tow.
The store's reach runs well beyond the city line. Students from Scranton High and West Scranton are close by, while Abington Heights, Dunmore, Valley View and North Pocono students come in from the surrounding towns, and shoppers from across northeastern Pennsylvania have been finding their way to Dolly's for decades.
The calendar matters here more than at most shops. Because the doors close for the summer, the shopping year splits neatly in two.
September
Doors reopen the week after Labor Day
Fall
Homecoming and semi-formals
Winter and spring
Prom, with the new styles from the buying trips on the floor and the registry filling up school by school
Late May: closed for the summer
If you have your heart set on a specific gown, the earlier you register it, the more likely it's still open for your event. The shop also posts new arrivals on Instagram and Facebook.
The racks, the buying trips and the rules
According to Dolly's, its team travels to the women's formal and prom gown markets to keep the inventory current on styles and colors. The designer list is a who's who of prom: Sherri Hill, Jovani, Alyce Paris, Faviana, Clarisse, Morilee, Rachel Allan and Tiffany Designs. Rachel Allan gets two collections, one of them all short dresses, which makes Dolly's a strong stop for homecoming and semi-formal as well as prom.
The store also promises a fair price without compromising look, style or quality. The policies break down into three parts.
Gown registry
Every dress sold is registered so no one else at your formal will be wearing it, as long as it came from Dolly's.
Sizes
In-stock sizes run from 000 through 32 and 14W through 32W, with plus sizes in many styles.
Special orders
Exactly half down before the order is placed, covered by in-store credit only.
Buy it at Dolly's, and it's yours alone at that dance. That registry is the heart of the shop, and it has been for decades. The shop's own description of the service runs as one long sentence.
Dolly's offers a unique service to our customers, we register the gown and guarantee that nobody else that attends their formal occasion will have the same gown, if purchased at Dolly's Boutique.
Dolly's season, dresses and returns
When is Dolly's open for prom shopping?
From mid-September through late May. The boutique closes for the summer once prom season wraps up and reopens the week after Labor Day. Hours can change, so check with the shop first.
Does Dolly's carry homecoming and semi-formal dresses too?
Yes. Prom, semi-formal and homecoming are the shop's three specialties, and its short-dress collections are built for fall dances.
Can I return a dress?
No. All sales are final, and special orders get in-store credit only, so bring whoever needs to weigh in to your fitting.