Optimo in the Chicago Tribune

Happy New Years to all my fellow hat lovers out there. My wife pointed out a feature story on Graham Thompson in the "Style" section of the Tribune this morning. Unfortunately, I don't own a scanner but perhaps someone who does can scan this piece for all to see.

Here's the link on the article!

Chicago Tribune article reference to Optimo Hats. thanks for the head up ii-5-ii
Peter

http://www.chicagotribune.com/featu...10478jan01,1,7059482.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

Just read the story on the Tribune's website. They sure didn't devote many column inches to it, did they? I suspect that what appears in the paper is considerably shorter than what the reporter handed in. Dratted editors, space considerations, etc. It's all enough to make a reporter consider a career in the fast-food industry.
It's good to see that the reporter got in Graham Thompson's observation that his hats aren't just for the rich and/or famous. Indeed, I question if his business would be viable if he catered only to affluent hat wearers, simply because I doubt there are enough of them. Optimo's offerings are pricey, but so are many specialty items of attire. Many's the working-class guy who owns, say, several pairs of cowboy boots that set him back a week's pay or more. You don't have to be rich to be a connoisseur, but that's no secret to the guys here.

OPTIMO

Hat heads
Confessions of a Chicago subculture

By Wendy Donahue
Tribune staff reporter
Published January 1, 2006

Bluesmen to bankers to billboard names--Buddy Guy, Tiger Woods, John Lee Hooker, Jay Leno--all have put their heads in the hands of Graham Thompson, proprietor of 12-year-old Optimo Hat Co. on the South Side.
Just before the holidays, more than a hundred of Chicago's Optimo fans tipped their fedoras, homburgs, derbies and porkpies to Thompson at his annual customer-appreciation party, this year at the restaurant Gioco in the South Loop. They happily shared not only the way they wear their hats--but also the why.
"The reason I wear a hat is it helps me maintain good behavior," said Kevin Fitzpatrick, 45, who works in advertising and owns at least 40 Optimo hats. "When I'm in a hat, I can do nothing illicit, because people always know where I am and who I am."
Because of the quality, price and changing times, Optimo claims a limited clientele, but a loyal one. Thompson estimates business has grown about 10 percent a year.
His Beverly shop is a study in an almost-lost art. In front, customers can see hats being slicked down and brushed up amid puffs of steam. Black Singer sewing machines hum in the back.
Reflecting the handmade custom contruction, fall/winter felt hats start at about $425; summer straw at $350.
But Thompson, 34, said his hats have nothing to do with wealth.
"It's people who love hats and are serious about hats," he said. "Some save up and buy one a year. Others get one or two and wear them to death. It's an interesting cross-section."
Joseph Palmer, now 53 and a senior sales representative, first stopped in Optimo after work years ago. He loved what he saw. "They were very nice and cordial. Then they told me how much. I said thank you and walked out. But it stayed with me."
When Palmer earned his first bonus, he turned around and went back in to buy his first Optimo hat.
"Twenty-five hats later," Palmer said, "I still remember."

Kevin Fitzpatrick

quoted in the article worked at OPTIMO at one time. It's no wonder he has around 40 OPTIMO hats. He was very helpful when I ordered my hats from them. I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one that started the ball rolling on this article.