Levine's Hat Forum...

[Johnnysan]

About a year ago, I discovered Levine's Hat Shop in St. Louis and have had the opportunity to get to know them and their work. Recently, they have made some improvements on their website and have added a forum similar to this one. They are working hard to get it off the ground, but aren't having much success yet.

Recently, as an incentive, they have offered a monthly prize of a $50 gift certificate to new users who register and post on the forum. I just recently won the first certificate, but "win" doesn't seem appropriate as I was only one of three registered users and only one of the two users who had actually posted.

These are good folks who run a respectable, long-standing family business. They take hats seriously and not only sell them, but have staff on-site who do refurbish work. They sell new but really like to work on vintage. As they are the only hat shop anywhere near me (outside of Chicago, some three hours away) I would like to see them continue to succeed in their efforts.

To that end, I'd like to let folks here know about the promotion and encourage them to visit the Levine's website and register on the forum. To do so, follow this link and good luck!

 

[Matt Deckard]

More talk is always a good thing more talk means more people wearing hats... though I hope they know now that there are still companies out there that clean hats. I also hope they know that there are some pretty good custom hatters out there. Reading some of the threads leads me to think they don't know much about their competition. I hope they grow and when I have more time I'll check it out onec in a while.

Thanks for the link.

 

[Biltmore Bob]

Do they have an Observation Bar?

 

[Johnnysan]

More talk is always a good thing more talk means more people wearing hats... though I hope they know now that there are still companies out there that clean hats. I also hope they know that there are some pretty good custom hatters out there. Reading some of the threads leads me to think they don't know much about their competition. I hope they grow and when I have more time I'll check it out onec in a while.

Thanks for the link.

I agree with you wholeheartedly and perhaps that's why it's even more important for folks like us - educated consumers - to involve ourselves in the practice of educating sellers as to what we want, what's available elsewhere and why we're willing to spend more for quality and service where and when we can find it.

Any business that has been in business for neary 100 years must be doing something right...especially a business that has seen a pronounced and prolonged downturn in the demand for their product over the past several decades. If a business like this is selling substandard products, it's largely due to the fact that that is all their customers demand from them. Selling a top-of-the-line product may be prestigious, but if your customers aren't buying from you, you 'll soon find that selling second-rate merchandise is far more profitable than dusting inventory.

We know better than most that quality men's hats are still a niche product...the average man on the street will barely spend $300 on a new suit - let alone a hat. My suggestion is that we make ourselves known to retailers who still exist in hopes that they will recognize that there is an identifiable and growing market for quality hats. Using direct methods of communicating with those retailers, such as through Levine's Forum, may be the first step towards doing so.

:cheers1: