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The Hatco Outlet Store in Garland, TX

Bob Roberts

I'll Lock Up
Messages
11,201
Location
milford ct
Well, just got back from the outlet. Made a stop there prior to getting over to Ft. Worth to my hotel. Unlike WHW, I had some luck. This was my second trip; last year I was a bit overwhelmed and, since they had stacks of discount hats I walked out with several. This year I am much pickier. If I couldn't find something of Royal Deluxe Quality, preferably open crown, I wasn't going to bite. And of course I was hoping for a Strat. They had some Strats in my size but, alas, none of the higher, open crown quality. For those of you big-headed guys, there were a few in 7 1/2 and 7 5/8, but no 7 1/4. What I found were two Racines and an Absinthe. The Absinthe was pretty nice looking, and I liked the Sage color, but it was not up to par and was obvious why it was in the outlet. The thing that killed it for me was a lower quality sweatband than the sheepskin. There was one other, that was marked as a prototype, but it was a mess. The sweat said Excellent, the liner said Royal, and the felt wasn't as nice as the newer open crowns.

To make a long story short, here is a pic of my Racine - looks just like Javadave's!

View attachment 42974

The felt quality is on par with my new Stetsonian, and is very soft. I gave it a good once-over and didn't see too much off about it. The felt is consistent, the sweat's nice, I'm sure I'll find something eventually. But for $129, I'm happy. Most nicer quality hats were in the $129 range. I saw some Dobbs in the $75 - $100, and a few Knox, marked for Levine Hat Company. As previously noted (I think by Javadave), the felt on these are nice, but the sweatbands are awful. I think they were going for $50-$60.

I had it shipped home, so it should arrive about the same time I get back on Friday.
Thx for the update. No Stetsonians...? :(
 

jlee562

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,095
Location
San Francisco, CA
So, my brother, two of my close friends, and myself traveled to Dallas this past weekend for Wrestlemania (yes, really!). Of course this necessitated a quick stop at the Garland outlet.

We made out like bandits!

We happened upon a sale, apparently. Straw and felt fedoras were 30% off the tagged price, or 50% off if you bought two or more. Ergo, hats for everyone!

My brother picked out two straws (a Milan and a shangtung Panama), one of my friends picked up a Dobbs 'Venetian Milan,' and the other picked out a soft wool bowler. I picked up a nice Stetson Globetrotter. It looks like the vent grommets are missing from this one, which is why it ended up at the outlet I'm guessing, but it's otherwise a nice hat, free of some of the flaws of the other hats on the floor. And at 50% off, who could resist?

There's a lot of interesting offerings. Some of those hats must have been sitting there for years, based on the look of the paper tags. They did have a few Boss Raw Edge reissues, but alas, not in my size (apparently 7 is their most popular size). No other open crown fedoras, sadly. I did see the Whippet Panama ( if anyone is 7 1/8, they have one for you!), which was quite nice, and almost bought a Brewster Panama.

The 'defects' in the hat range from slight to "what the heck?" Some ribbons were poorly tacked (even by Hatco standards), some had funky sweatbands. But the staff is VERY nice. They offered to check the back for things in my size, were ready to steam and shape, and let me pick out a feather. They also would have given us hatboxes, but we didn't want to fly with them. Definitely a fun experience.



 
Last edited:
Messages
10,575
Location
Boston area
So, my brother, two of my close friends, and myself traveled to Dallas this past weekend for Wrestlemania (yes, really!). Of course this necessitated a quick stop at the Garland outlet.

We made out like bandits!

We happened upon a sale, apparently. Straw and felt fedoras were 30% off the tagged price, or 50% off if you bought two or more. Ergo, hats for everyone!

My brother picked out two straws (a Milan and a shangtung Panama), one of my friends picked up a Dobbs 'Venetian Milan,' and the other picked out a soft wool bowler. I picked up a nice Stetson Globetrotter. It looks like the vent grommets are missing from this one, which is why it ended up at the outlet I'm guessing, but it's otherwise a nice hat, free of some of the flaws of the other hats on the floor. And at 50% off, who could resist?

There's a lot of interesting offerings. Some of those hats must have been sitting there for years, based on the look of the paper tags. They did have a few Boss Raw Edge reissues, but alas, not in my size (apparently 7 is their most popular size). No other open crown fedoras, sadly. I did see the Whippet Panama ( if anyone is 7 1/8, they have one for you!), which was quite nice, and almost bought a Brewster Panama.

The 'defects' in the hat range from slight to "what the heck?" Some ribbons were poorly tacked (even by Hatco standards), some had funky sweatbands. But the staff is VERY nice. They offered to check the back for things in my size, were ready to steam and shape, and let me pick out a feather. They also would have given us hatboxes, but we didn't want to fly with them. Definitely a fun experience.




Ok, so I'm a little behind.... HOW was the WrestleMania, Jared?! Sounds like a most memorable ride!
 

Bob Roberts

I'll Lock Up
Messages
11,201
Location
milford ct
Stetsonian for abt $100 shipped and Royal Deluxe Whippet for $65.
20170408_124601-1.jpg
20170617_133151-1.jpg
Gift from Jeremy Garner. :)
 

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