Sad but I don't see the drama. I have several Auronesa and Aoteroa berets and compared to my fedoras these berets are dirt cheap. Quality comes at a cost and if you don't want to pay that cost there are plenty cheaper options. I love my Czech berets at 1/3 of a Auloresa, but they are not the same.The day after I chose the Auloronesa foulards with headband for the new weekly Special, [cynically] I was informed of the new prices of the Boneteria Auloronesa berets. And no, it's not good news: prices of some models will rise quite dramatically.
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I already knew about the béret casquettes; very labour intensive models that simply couldn't be offered for the price originally set by the company's founder. I chose not to restock these and slowly sell out the (luckily reasonably large) stock that I have, at the original price. The béret casquettes would come well over $100.00.
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The Universels will have to go up in price, but it is the head-banded (sized) models that will see the most painful increase. The wholesale cost goes up by 80% and frankly, I am not quite sure how to adjust my prices in a way that these models can be continued...
For the month of June I'll keep prices as they are (and the Special stays on till Monday), but when the new stock comes in early July, prices will change.
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The reason behind the increase is a combination of factors, the first is that M Denis Guédon (the founder of the company) didn't have to make a living from it. At the end of his long career in beret manufacturing he wanted to set up a small artisan company that would produce the world's best quality berets, made in the very birthplace and heartlands of the beret (Béarn) and hand it over to a suitable artisan when established (and he could retire). This has now happened and brings us to reason #2 (Mme Goupie does have to make a living from making berets) and #3 the six year tax free period to start and establish a company is now over - the company is faced with serious tax invoices.
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I guess, in the end, it is the realisation that handmade products of such intense labour and very high quality become almost unaffordable in our day and age (and trust me; neither manufacturer or myself get rich from it...).
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In the end you get whgat you pay for!