Borsalino Bankrupt?

[KingAndrew]

This article reports that Borsalino has filed for bankruptcy despite rising sales. Apparently there has been financial mismanagement among its owners. The story also has a list of famous showbiz figures who wore Borsalino, oddly including Indiana Jones.

http://qz.com/356647/the-maker-of-the-worlds-coolest-hats-is-heading-toward-bankruptcy/

 

[-30-]

Nothing would surprise me with that company.

Regards,
J T

 

[tommyK]

Higher prices and decreasing quality are not recipes for success to begin with. Hope they can stay afloat just the same.

 

[Hat Dandy]

Nothing would surprise me with that company.

Regards,
J T

I'm not totally surprised. It's still too bad, however. Hopefully, they can restructure and make the necessary changes to be viable.

 

[-30-]

As you may or may not remember, I have found their Quality Control severely lacking.

Regards,
J T

 

[jamespowers]

This article reports that Borsalino has filed for bankruptcy despite rising sales. Apparently there has been financial mismanagement among its owners. The story also has a list of famous showbiz figures who wore Borsalino, oddly including Indiana Jones.

http://qz.com/356647/the-maker-of-the-worlds-coolest-hats-is-heading-toward-bankruptcy/

The article says it all. It is run by a holding company now and they want to wring out every cent they can. After the Borsalino Family sold out in the 1980s the company has been run very differently. They started selling their name to be used on everything from umbrellas to gloves for goodness sake. They used to be a hat company. Now they are part of a conglomerate. I understand that they even franchised out their name to be used on hats that were made and sold in Asia. They have extended themselves too far and are banking on a name more than the quality that made the name....

 

[pawineguy]

"In 2013 the company suffered a net loss of almost 22 million euros as revenue fell 11 percent to 13.6 million euros."

When you are losing much more than your actual revenue, there is something structural that they are dealing with that they haven't addressed in the article. Heavy debt load from the purchase from the family? Major capital expense for new facilities? A write down of assets in 2013?

 

[gtdean48]

.... They used to be a hat company. Now they are part of a conglomerate. I understand that they even franchised out their name to be used on hats that were made and sold in Asia. They have extended themselves too far and are banking on a name more than the quality that made the name....

Sounds a lot like.....wait for it......Stetson....

 

[jamespowers]

Sounds a lot like.....wait for it......Stetson....

Definitely. :doh:

 

[RJR]

Yup!

 

[besdor]

Something is definitely brewing there in Italy but it is a big mess. The biggest problem is that the owner is not to be found. This is causing a major problem for the courts in trying to straighten out the mess of actual ownership. The company has plenty of orders but the banks are tying up their cash reserves to pay the creditors.

 

[Bob Roberts]

I really don't need ANY $300+ current production Borsas or Stetsons either, for that matter...

 

[gtdean48]

What's "need" got to do with it? [huh]
Same response I give when told that You don't need another hat!"

 

[besdor]

Stetson has actualy been gainig some momentum in the hat market. Weve been getting more requests for the new open crown styles that they now produce. They are a good 125.00 less than a Borsalino.

 

[Bob Roberts]

What's "need" got to do with it? [huh]
Same response I give when told that You don't need another hat!"

Ok. "WANT."

 

[tonyb]

I can't imagine that name NOT being worth keeping alive. Let's just hope it adorns quality hats made in Italy.

 

[tonyb]

Stetson has actualy been gainig some momentum in the hat market. Weve been getting more requests for the new open crown styles that they now produce. They are a good 125.00 less than a Borsalino.

In your estimation, how does the quality compare? I've yet to handle any of these recent open-crown Stetson models. But Borsalinos of fairly recent manufacture left me less than impressed, with the exception of the all-beaver model.

 

[Jedwbpm]

Tony I have handled the new Excellent quality from Stetson and it was wonderful. It has a very nice hand. Matt is doing great things at Hat-CO. We must remember that it will take time to get a large ship like Hat-Co to turn all the way around. Some of the best looking hats are in the Dobb's line. The regular felt is getting better and softer too. We have a tractor trailer truck on the way up from Texas I hope it has some of the new Open Crown hats that we ordered in January on board. Bollman who now import Borsalino and make Bailey and Kangoll are introducing MAP pricing. For Boraslino this will mean a $75.00 to $150.00 price hike on the line depending on the retailer. Failure to follow the MAP will cause a retailer to not to receive further goods from them.

Jeff

 

[tommyK]

$75-150 increase in Borsalino pricing? Yikes! Good for Stetson and Akubra, though. Makes them even more appealing.

 

[besdor]

That MAP pricing will be very interesting. Lets see what happens........