Matt Deckard
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Recent hat store closings
- Thread starter Matt Deckard
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There may be another one soon. Business isnt great in certain parts of the country.
Steven
www.bencrafthats.com
Steven
www.bencrafthats.com
duggap
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Steven, we sure as heck hope it isn't your store. Where would I get my Borsalinos.
Fedora
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Does not surprise me. For many, hats are luxury items. When the economy tanks, even if you still have your job, you pull back, in case you will lose it in the future. I hear many hatters are way down in sales, and no doubt some more may go belly up.
But other biz's are feeling the crunch too. And we may have a jobless recovery. When the gov't allows off shoring and out sourcing, that they were less apt to do in the past, the factories that used to rehire are no longer here to do so.
Globilization is not a new thing. Our leaders just used to treat it differently. They used to try and protect our industry. They have forgotten that what allowed us to win the last world war was our ability to out produce Germany and Japan. Hard to believe alot of our leaders are educated people, who apparently never took a course in history. Any Country's long term security involves producing most of what you consume, which allows the industrial infrastructure to move over to war time industry. We no longer have that. Just another part of the economic mess we find ourselves in. And at the end of the day, really is a matter of national security. I am afraid, the buck supercedes that today.
Look at what happened to the English hatting industry during WW2. It just about vanished. And never recovered. Because the countries that bought English hats, had to start making their own, and England lost alot of their market share during this time frame. The same thing is happening to us, today, except war is not the culprit. Profit margins are.
Being almost 59 years old, I am of the old school. My hats use felt and parts made here. And if the day comes, that I can't do it that way, I will stop making hats. I am all for fair trade, but not free trade. We can't compete with a Country where they pay a few bucks a day for factory work. Unless we all want to live like those slave wage folks do. China has been trying to sell me felt for awhile. And some hatters use em' because it makes the bottom line real big. But, there is more to life than mo' money. I have no objections to European suppliers though. Or other countries that have a decent standard of living. This is fair trade, not free trade. There is a big difference.
I use a travel hand steamer to style hats. I have to buy them on ebay, when they were made in Europe, or the USA. Because a new one, from Wally World generally will last me only a couple of months before it quits steaming. I bought one from ebay a couple years ago,and it is still going strong. Made in Sweden I think. Most goods from the far east, while cheap, really are not cheap. You have to keep buying them, as they don't last very long. And, I tried 3 or 4 brands before I gave up, and went to ebay.
But other biz's are feeling the crunch too. And we may have a jobless recovery. When the gov't allows off shoring and out sourcing, that they were less apt to do in the past, the factories that used to rehire are no longer here to do so.
Globilization is not a new thing. Our leaders just used to treat it differently. They used to try and protect our industry. They have forgotten that what allowed us to win the last world war was our ability to out produce Germany and Japan. Hard to believe alot of our leaders are educated people, who apparently never took a course in history. Any Country's long term security involves producing most of what you consume, which allows the industrial infrastructure to move over to war time industry. We no longer have that. Just another part of the economic mess we find ourselves in. And at the end of the day, really is a matter of national security. I am afraid, the buck supercedes that today.
Look at what happened to the English hatting industry during WW2. It just about vanished. And never recovered. Because the countries that bought English hats, had to start making their own, and England lost alot of their market share during this time frame. The same thing is happening to us, today, except war is not the culprit. Profit margins are.
Being almost 59 years old, I am of the old school. My hats use felt and parts made here. And if the day comes, that I can't do it that way, I will stop making hats. I am all for fair trade, but not free trade. We can't compete with a Country where they pay a few bucks a day for factory work. Unless we all want to live like those slave wage folks do. China has been trying to sell me felt for awhile. And some hatters use em' because it makes the bottom line real big. But, there is more to life than mo' money. I have no objections to European suppliers though. Or other countries that have a decent standard of living. This is fair trade, not free trade. There is a big difference.
I use a travel hand steamer to style hats. I have to buy them on ebay, when they were made in Europe, or the USA. Because a new one, from Wally World generally will last me only a couple of months before it quits steaming. I bought one from ebay a couple years ago,and it is still going strong. Made in Sweden I think. Most goods from the far east, while cheap, really are not cheap. You have to keep buying them, as they don't last very long. And, I tried 3 or 4 brands before I gave up, and went to ebay.
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