Village Hat Shop

[Jfala]

Fred,

Are you seeing any trends currently from the hat buying public?

- Jeff

 

[J.B.]

Welcome, Vilhat.

 

[feltfan]

Feltfan may choose not to buy fur felt hats from China because of their animal rights policy (although they are not using dog or cat). Ed draws the line somewhere else. My guess is that most people at The Fedora Lounge, who love better hats, have no problem with fur felt.

Hi Fred,

Thanks for the response.
I have no problem with fur felt hats- they're great
and I have lots of them. Speaking for myself, I think
there are bigger things to worry about than the use of
animals to make quality hats (though in an ideal world
I would rather not). Personally, I make a big distinction
between beavers and rabbits and, say, cats and dogs.
I'm not a buddhist and I'm not an animal rights crusader.

That said, I care a lot about dogs. Their mistreatment
in China extends far beyond the hat or coat industry,
onto the dinner plate and beyond. When I visited China
I was offered "medicines" with the selling point that they
contained dog penis. That's really unnecessary, though
I admit I bring my cultural values with me to another country.

My only point was that when one does business with
China, one supports this treatment of dogs (to say
nothing of people) in a number of ways. Fine, okay, we all
buy Chinese stuff. But it's an unlikely business partner
for people who care about dogs, regardless of whether
dog fur is used in the actual product.

For the most part, the critters whose fur make up my
hats died before I was born. I'm recycling! But I do
have a hat from Art Fawcett and if I could take a minute
to figure out my finances, I want to get another. Beavers beware!

It would be great if someone could find a quality substitute for
fine fur (or leather or...). I wonder if anyone is looking at
processes for microfiber or some other synthetic (ideally from
recycled material, not oil). But until then, bring on the fur felt,
steaks, and leather jackets. And a side of squirrel for my dog.

Edit: I just want to add that I question whether wool felt represents
less cruelty, given factory farming practices in this country. At least
those beavers (and usually the hare) live in the wild until they are
used for felt fur. Also I wanted to note that the Jaxon Monk looks
very good! Hmm... What is the sweatband made of and, since sizes
only go to 7 1/2, can you provide a 7 1/2 Long Oval?

http://www.villagehatshop.com/vhs_jaxon_monk.html

Fred, it sounds like you're pursuing a quality product at a decent
price point. I appreciate that you responded at all!

 

[ed_bollix]

Well said, one and all.

 

[DavidVillaJr]

Also I wanted to note that the Jaxon Monk looks
very good! Hmm... What is the sweatband made of

I'll chime in here and let you know, on my Jaxon Monk, the sweatband looks and feels like real "live" leather.

In fact, I'm wearing it right now!!

I like to snap the front of the brim down - looks and feels sporty!!

dv

 

[Stoney]

Talking of bollix... Aren't Jaxon hats made in China?
What guarantees do you have that the fur in that felt
isn't dog and cat? A dollar sent to China is not a dollar
for good treatment of dogs. Sorry, but I'm a big dog fan
and I've read and seen a bit about how dogs are treated
in China and the products that come here for dogs and
made from dog fur.

Apologies in advance if I misremembered that Jaxon hats
are made in China.

Don't you mean cat fur....

The cat's in the kettle at the peking moon,
the place where I eat every day at noon......

http://www.jibjab.com/view/36385

 

[J.T.Marcus]

I have argued that we ought to be leaders in created better and better qualities of wool felt and give up fur. Many here think I'm nuts and that to give up selling fur felt hats will undermine our business and our livelihoods. I rationalize - and I do mean rationalize - selling fur by understanding that everyone is drawing the line on this issue at different places. Feltfan may choose not to buy fur felt hats from China because of their animal rights policy (although they are not using dog or cat). Ed draws the line somewhere else. My guess is that most people at The Fedora Lounge, who love better hats, have no problem with fur felt. Fred

Now, if we could just cross a rabbit with a sheep. We'd get a fur bearer that would stand still for a haircut!

 

[J.B.]

Now, if we could just cross a rabbit with a sheep. We'd get a fur bearer that would stand still for a haircut!

"Do you stock a brown fedora in shabbit felt, please?!"

 

[Jfala]

Now, if we could just cross a rabbit with a sheep. We'd get a fur bearer that would stand still for a haircut!

Just as long as the shabbit didn't jump when you tried to shear it.

Shabbit! lol

 

[J.B.]

Suzie the shepherdess shears shabbits at the seashore.

 

[Aaron Hats]

Welcome Fred. It's good to see you here.

Aaron

 

[leo]

Although I'm a newbie here, I'm no stranger to hat shops. There are several quality shops local to me and where I often travel. So, when I stepped into the Hillcrest store six months ago during a business trip, I was pleased with a decent selection plus attentive and helpful service. I purchased three hats from the store over two trips. The East and Upper Midwest may have more choices than Southern California, but I will likely return to the store the next time I'm in the area.

Bill

 

[feltfan]

Jaxon Monk, the sweatband looks and feels like real "live" leather.

Live leather. Now that's cruel!

If they come in Long Oval, you can't beat the price...
at least until China dumps all of our treasury bonds.

 

[Vilhat]

Hi -

Jeff: Re:"...trends from the hat buying public."

The hat buying public is very segmented. Some people are novelty hat collectors, or like dressy women's hats for church, or are ball cap collectors, etc. etc. Each group complains that we are not focused enough on their category. The good thing about our .com is that we can expand all these categories without runnng out of floor space (full circle on this thread!). I'll assume you mean men's fedoras in your question. But even here there are sub-categories. As I better understand The Fedora Lounge, positve trends would be better materials, more interesting varations on basic colors, finer workmanship, snazier trims, a great innovation may be a great hat with a 2 1/4-inch brim going to a 2 3/8-inch brim. You all are traditionalists. Then there is the fedora sub-category who are more influenced by pop culture, the younger guy who is now into stingy brims and cut-and-sew fabrics more than felts. As you can see, this is a very big question where the answer is specific to a narrowing of the context.

Bill (leo): Thanks for that comment - I am very glad that you had a good experience with us at our Hillcrest store.

J.B/Aaron: Thanks for the welcome.

Thanks for all the positive feedback with regard to the Jaxon fur felts. Bruce Zales works very hard on getting this line right. He agonizes at times over very minor details and rejects many hats that are not up to his standards (I know this sounds like a commercial, but it is true). If anyone would like to suggest anyting to him - he IS Jaxon Hats - email him at bruce@villagehatshop.com. Sorry, no long oval at this time.

Thanks,

- Fred

 

[indycop]

The only problem I have with VHS is I keep getting emails with discount opportunities on them ! So of course I have to use them!!:eusa_doh: :eusa_doh: :eusa_doh:

 

[Jfala]

The only problem I have with VHS is I keep getting emails with discount opportunities on them ! So of course I have to use them!!:eusa_doh: :eusa_doh: :eusa_doh:

Fred,

How, do I get on this list? Then again, it's probably good that I'm not otherwise I may have more hats than I know what to do with...lol

 

[NonEntity]

Interesting dynamic on this thread. Before Village Hat Shop owner Fred showed up, all the comments were critical; after he entered, they're saccharine sweet--until now.

Fred, as I stated prior to the love-in, I've never been in any of your retail stores, but I have dealt with VHS.com/berets.com/pithhelmets.com and so on via those web sites and some of your employees by phone over a period of years. Maybe my telephone experiences were not a representative sample, but every time, I've encountered a person who did not know what s/he was talking about. For example, since I had to call about the Jaxon Basque beret because your site fails to mention its diameter, your employee had no idea that berets come in a wide range of diameters and how important that is in terms of their appearance.

You certainly offer an extraordinarily wide range of hats at the mostly lower to mid-quality level, and perhaps more crazy novelty hats than anyone anywhere. As for your proprietary brand, Jaxon, the better fur felt ones are half decent and remarkably affordable, so these around-about $60 hats are a very good value. The wool felt Jaxons are a no better buy or quality than many other competitors, and those poly-wool ivies and newsboys are really cheap and a case of you-get-what-you-pay-for. On the few good hats that you carry which are widely available, like Tilleys and Christys, other vendors have better prices.

Curiously, the above-referenced Jaxon Basque beret, unlike the rest of the Jaxon line, is a superb hat, but, at $48, the most expensive beret on the Web, (compare Borsalino at $45!), though it is exactly the same beret as the $35 Super Lujo. On the other hand, you are the only company I know of having real pith helmets made these days for the U.S. market, and they are pretty darned good, too. At under $50, they're a terrific buy.

It doesn't take a high priced MBA business consultant like me to know that finding your customer niche and providing products for them is basic to business success. You have already carved out a niche of customers seeking at most mediocre quality with a priority on low price, and it appears you have done very well at that.

In contrast, we at The Fedora Lounge, while overly polite (myself excepted), are overwhelmingly of the demand-very-high-quality niche, which includes the sub-categories of superb off-the-shelf, hand made, and vintage hat collectors.

Come on, are you seriously considering altering your business model and stocking fine hats to cater to customers like us? I don't think so. Your objective in speaking up here was to: 1) Control damage over negative comments, 2) Get some free advertising, and 3) Get feedback from the hat cognoscenti, a group in stark contrast to your usual run-of-the-mill customers.

Do you think it's worked? I think it clearly has.

No hard feelings, Fred. I'm just one of those rare people who tells it like it is. Besides, I'm just a NonEntity.

 

[Stoney]

Interesting dynamic on this thread. Before Village Hat Shop owner Fred showed up, all the comments were critical; after he entered, they're saccharine sweet--until now.

NonEntity,

I'm not sure everyone here was saccharine sweet in their comments.
Just look at FeltFan's typical rant. No offense meant here FeltFan. I always enjoy
reading your posts!

lol lol lol

 

[feltfan]

NonEntity,

I'm not sure everyone here was saccharine sweet in their comments.
Just look at FeltFan's typical rant. No offense meant here FeltFan. I always enjoy
reading your posts!

lol lol lol

Gee, and I was just going to point out to Art
that some consider me "overly polite". [huh]

I do hope Fred continues to post here and I
don't think his motivation is quite as crass as
NonEntity says. I suspect he enjoys talking
hats as much as the rest of us.

 

[Vilhat]

NonEntity -

A had a lot of thoughts running though my head as a read your post. First of all, there were positive posts before I got into this - go back and look for yourself. There is a tinge of mean spiritedness in your comments. I truly wish that every customer who interacts with every employee of VHS would have a good experience (what person who starts a business and then hires others to help wouldn't wish this?). How can that possibly happen in the real world? I'm sorry we were not more helpful when you called. Our training can and should be better.

More specifically in response:

1. Who sells similar quality wool felt hats (Jaxon crushables or stiffs) at this quality and at this price - under $30?

2. You need to look again at the Jaxon ivy and eight-quarter caps. They are not synthetics - they are natural materials- and they are not cheap (other than the price). That comment is by far the most egregious in your post - our ivy and eight-quarter caps are perhaps the best value in our entire catalog (your post on this point leads me to believe that we pehaps ought to raise the price so as to change the perception.)

3. "... a niche of customers seeking at most mediocre quality with a priority on low price.": I have written and posted numerous articles attempting to educate hat wearers about the confusing, meaninglessness, and sometines double-dealing of the exes (XXXXX) rating system in felt hats and also that buyers should beware when paying a lot for Panama hats. It's true that we don't want to rip people off (yes I am being facetious), but being accused of providing good value is not something that I think I need to defend.

4. I'll add the Jason Beret diameter to the description at the site - thanks.

5. "...the demand-very-high-quality niche": We try to do offer some great hats in this niche. Granted, we cannot be all things to all people. Fortunatley, for the customer, there are others who sell hats and in the Internet age there is a lot to choose from. (We're better at high-quality Panamas and other fine straws than we are at felt - wait until you see what we have coming this spring).

6. It's quite cynical (and not very consistent with a good MBA education) to assume that a business would not try and change in response to its customers' wishes. I forwaded this thread to all VHS employees last week on the day that I first saw it. Managers in our stores were quick to respond that they would re-merchandise their stores in efforts to change the novelty store perception. As far as your three assumptions about my objectives: I laid out the problems that were inherent with my posting at the very start. You are right that I cannot get out of my skin as a supporter of VHS and at be just another person posting at a thread about VHS. I will bow out - no hard feelings - I had doubts about getting into this in the first place. NonEntity is right in that - in part - it is about the 3 things he mentions (although I never framed them quite that way in my mind, but I never went to business school). But, it also has been about more than that and I hope that came through.

I'll post at other threads that don't have "Village Hat Shop" as the title and the topic. This has been fun.

One point in closing. My customers are not "run-of-the-mill" because they are not in a position to spend hundreds of dollars on a hat.

- Fred

PS. Thanks for the positve comments about VHS that are also in your post; they did not go un-noticed.