I live in the Dallas area, so I thought it would be interesting to visit, although I wasn't expecting much. I went earlier this week with my son. We're both interested in wearing hats, and nicer ones than the gimme caps and flop hats etc we were used to.
The store is in old downtown Garland, right by the factory. It's a pretty relaxed place. Most of the space, maybe 2/3, is taken up by cowboy hats, 1/3 Resistol, 1/3 Stetson. Even at factory outlet prices, nice cowboy hats aren't cheap.
But our interest was in the dress fur felt hats, and the straws. My son found a couple Dobbs stingy brims he liked a lot, and a Stetson Firense in dark brown. We found he looks good in a Homburg, but they only had wool. He also picked out a couple summer straws.
The dress hats are stacked by size on dusty racks, and you just have to dig in and see what you can find. Also, some hats are "seconds", so if you find one you like you need to check it over. I came away with two Temples and two Pinnacles, covering gray, brown, and black. I liked the Temple better than the Chatham, which has a lower crown. I came away with these four hats for $200+tax, which I thought was a good deal for those 4 hats. I got two browns, the Temple and Pinnacle brown color were quite different - the Pinnacle is a very rich chocolate brown.
The "hat guy" did a nice job with a little steam and a brush, cleaning and gently shaping the hats we selected.
I wanted a straw or two also, but the selection was pretty thin. I guess they sell more in spring and any returns have not started coming back until much later in the year.
There were only a few shoppers in the store. The checkout lady said Saturdays can be busy, but it's pretty quiet during the week. So if you live nearby, and enjoy a little bargain hunting on lunch hour, it could be a fun thing every now and then. They are open to 5:30 during the week, I think.
I'll try to get some pics of the hats up tomorrow. Any interest in pics of the outlet store? I could take them the next time I go by.
The store is in old downtown Garland, right by the factory. It's a pretty relaxed place. Most of the space, maybe 2/3, is taken up by cowboy hats, 1/3 Resistol, 1/3 Stetson. Even at factory outlet prices, nice cowboy hats aren't cheap.
But our interest was in the dress fur felt hats, and the straws. My son found a couple Dobbs stingy brims he liked a lot, and a Stetson Firense in dark brown. We found he looks good in a Homburg, but they only had wool. He also picked out a couple summer straws.
The dress hats are stacked by size on dusty racks, and you just have to dig in and see what you can find. Also, some hats are "seconds", so if you find one you like you need to check it over. I came away with two Temples and two Pinnacles, covering gray, brown, and black. I liked the Temple better than the Chatham, which has a lower crown. I came away with these four hats for $200+tax, which I thought was a good deal for those 4 hats. I got two browns, the Temple and Pinnacle brown color were quite different - the Pinnacle is a very rich chocolate brown.
The "hat guy" did a nice job with a little steam and a brush, cleaning and gently shaping the hats we selected.
I wanted a straw or two also, but the selection was pretty thin. I guess they sell more in spring and any returns have not started coming back until much later in the year.
There were only a few shoppers in the store. The checkout lady said Saturdays can be busy, but it's pretty quiet during the week. So if you live nearby, and enjoy a little bargain hunting on lunch hour, it could be a fun thing every now and then. They are open to 5:30 during the week, I think.
I'll try to get some pics of the hats up tomorrow. Any interest in pics of the outlet store? I could take them the next time I go by.
