The best selection of Cowboy hats in the USA?

When I was a kid most any local Western store had a fair size hat display. I'm talking small towns not Dallas! Selections are not so good any more.

The cost of a decent felt hat has gone up and the Internet is King if you are searching. But who has the best selection of hats you can buy off the shelf?

I am thinking the Stock Yards in OKC or Fort Worth? Where is the "best" selection?

Where have you seen the most hats for sell? Thanks!

Just guessing but maybe Peter's Boros in Fort Worth.

Yahoody said:

When I was a kid most any local Western store had a fair size hat display. I'm talking small towns not Dallas! Selections are not so good any more.

The cost of a decent felt hat has gone up and the Internet is King if you are searching. But who has the best selection of hats you can buy off the shelf?

I am thinking the Stock Yards in OKC or Fort Worth? Where is the "best" selection?

Where have you seen the most hats for sell? Thanks!

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...of course, 90% of those will be cowboy/western hats.

Optimo in Cbicago has a lot of stock...but at a price.

I’ve never been, but from the sheer numbers of their hats that I’ve run across I think Shudde Bros. is worth a look. They’ve been around a long time, but not sure how big they are today.

For best selection of factory hats & to meet some custom Western hatmakers I would recommend the Mesa Old West Show before the High Noon Western Auction currently scheduled starting on January 23, 2021 in Mesa, AZ. I would also look to see the list of exhibitors for the Western Stock Show, Denver, CO currently scheduled to start on January 9, 2021. I would give the same answer for Western boots & custom bookmakers as well.

The WESA Trade Show in Dallas, Jan 14-17 2021.
I attended the show a few years ago in Denver, full of western items and plenty of hats.
Here is the product line link.

WESA LINK

RBH said:

The WESA Trade Show in Dallas, Jan 14-17 2021.
I attended the show a few years ago in Denver, full of western items and plenty of hats.
Here is the product line link.

WESA LINK

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The PBR has a Trade Show at their big Las Vegas event. DD was there a couple of yrs ago & would be more qualified to comment.

Shudde Bros is much more of a storefront these day and not nearly the powerhouse sort of place they once were.

deadlyhandsome said:

I’ve never been, but from the sheer numbers of their hats that I’ve run across I think Shudde Bros. is worth a look. They’ve been around a long time, but not sure how big they are today.

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Best Hat Store just north of Ft Worth stockyards has a few hundred on display. NRS just south of Decatur TX has a lot and is a huge seller of American Hat Company products. American is just a short ways up the road in Bowie TX. Best Hat was owned by the gentleman that bought American Hat Co. so I assume his widow owns it still. The PBR FInals and the National Finals Rodeo would have several sellers with HUGE displays and walls of hat boxes. I would think the NFR being in Arlington/Ft Worth TX this December will not change that.

Hat Co outlet in Garland, TX. has the best selection.

Peters Bros in Ft Worth has a very small inventory on hand at any given time.
They specialize more in custom hat work and refurbs and their in-stock inventory of cowboy hats is just a handful of low end tourist level stuff. And depending on the time of year they can be buried up to their eyebrows with PBR custom orders, which puts a custom order months in the waiting. OF course they can order anything from the hat makers for you, but you can also find that anywhere on line.

From my 67 years of travels around the State of Texas I've found two locations that always have more hats in stock, in every size and color, and every style you could want, than you can imagine...really...like thousands.

1) http://www.headquartershats.com/
Headquarters Hats is located on main st in Fredericksberg...I've never seen more Stetsons in any one location in my life. If Stetson makes it they have it in every size & color and enough to fill your pickup truck with your hat of choice. It's a retail store but the prices are comparable to internet prices...not full retail, but not full wholesale either...somewhere in between.
If you're in the store and find something you want they'll also ship it back home for you in the event you're stopping in during a weekend motorcycle ride.

2) Hatco in Garland Tx. The Steton/Resistol factory outlet store. On any given day they'll have a couple of thousand hats in stock but remember they are an outlet store and their inventory is mainly overruns, 2nds, and promotional stock. The 2nd that I've found at Hatco are always a sizing mislabel. In other words it may be labelled as a 7 3/8 but fits more like a 7 5/8. So just try on anything that meets your eye to be sure of fit. They don't do web sales so it's a walk in, try on, and find what you like place. They also have a great inventory of first run overstock in their straw section. So you can spend $15 bucks or a couple of hundred bucks and anything in between. Plus you'll save approx 50-57% off the retail store prices. My son recently bought a 30X El Patrol Stetson there and he paid $175 for it. They retail for over $500. So that's just one great example of the savings. And they'll custom block anything you buy.

Either one is worth the drive and a motherload of western styles in straw, wool felt, and fur felt. I am lucky to live near HatCo so I drop by a few times a year. The inventory is updated every week so you never know what gold nugget you'll find there.

So...depending on where in Tx you are...try one of them....or both!

Rmccamey said:

Just guessing but maybe Peter's Boros in Fort Worth.

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Yahoody said:

When I was a kid most any local Western store had a fair size hat display. I'm talking small towns not Dallas! Selections are not so good any more.

The cost of a decent felt hat has gone up and the Internet is King if you are searching. But who has the best selection of hats you can buy off the shelf?

I am thinking the Stock Yards in OKC or Fort Worth? Where is the "best" selection?

Where have you seen the most hats for sell? Thanks!

Click to expand...

Hi

Well, the OKC Stockyards has Shorty's Hat shop which sells the current Professional Rodeo taco hats in any color of felt and various straws. Their website doesn't show anything like what Yahoody, T Jones, and I wear. I have my doubts that they can make anything else. They have a good stock of straws. There's a place in Noble OK, think South Norman OK called Shaefer's hats shop, but he's pretty much Custom only. If he has 20 hats, that's a lot. Langston's has a decent selection of Stetsons, Resistols, etc.
Later

Stopped by Shorty's 5 years ago while in OKC. Huge disappointment for a hat shop IMO. Wife bought a decent hat from one of the retailers in the actual Stockyard area.

Looks like they have gotten marginally better for hats. But their "show" display at the NRCHA show was a lot better than what was available in the shop.