Did Hatco close their rough hat body plant?

[TWKundrat]

I'll admit that I'm a bit sleep deprived but I swear I saw a comment on Facebook yesterday about Hatco closing their rough body plant in Longview and that they are now using imported felts. I can't find the post today so I'm wondering if there's any truth to this or if it was all a hallucination?

 

[The Hatted Professor]

I saw the same post. I'll reach out to Matt Range or my contacts at Stetson to find out.

 

[belfastboy]

I'll admit that I'm a bit sleep deprived but I swear I saw a comment on Facebook yesterday about Hatco closing their rough body plant in Longview and that they are now using imported felts. I can't find the post today so I'm wondering if there's any truth to this or if it was all a hallucination?

I have no idea how large they are but I have some felt samples from China in production, both rabbit and beaver. They prefer to sell in 200 and 500 quantity. Pricing is pretty good so Hatco could be sourcing from China. Although the pricing just rose 20%.

 

[The Hatted Professor]

I have no idea how large they are but I have some felt samples from China in production, both rabbit and beaver. They prefer to sell in 200 and 500 quantity. Pricing is pretty good so Hatco could be sourcing from China. Although the pricing just rose 20%.

If they import from anywhere, it’s kind of hard to justify their Made in the USA tag.

 

[Trouser Bark]

If they import from anywhere, it’s kind of hard to justify their Made in the USA tag.

Some mfg's justify a US Made perspective as long as it has greater than 50% US value (or some similar benchmark) and that can be finishing of raw goods.

 

[TWKundrat]

I saw the same post. I'll reach out to Matt Range or my contacts at Stetson to find out.

I'm curious if you ever heard anything back about this?

 

[The Hatted Professor]

I'm curious if you ever heard anything back about this?

Not yet, but Matt can take awhile if he responds at all.

 

[The Hatted Professor]

Unfortunately, it’s true. I still haven’t heard from Matt, but here’s an article about it.

Longview Rough Body Plant Closed

 

[TWKundrat]

Unfortunately, it’s true. I still haven’t heard from Matt, but here’s an article about it.

Longview Rough Body Plant Closed

Well that's a damn shame. Wish I could have seen it when it was up and running. I asked if I could get a tour there when I was at the finishing plant but I was told they wouldn't do tours there. I wonder what will happen to all of the equipment.

 

[belfastboy]

Well that's a damn shame. Wish I could have seen it when it was up and running. I asked if I could get a tour there when I was at the finishing plant but I was told they wouldn't do tours there. I wonder what will happen to all of the equipment.

They have to be sourcing them from China I would think. FEPSA does not have the capacity to fill their needs. Where else could they go?

 

[Edward]

Some mfg's justify a US Made perspective as long as it has greater than 50% US value (or some similar benchmark) and that can be finishing of raw goods.

That's been the legal baseline for a long time, I believe. I remember it becoming an issue years ago with guitars labelled "Made in USA" when not all the parts were. Mattered a lot to a lot of folks who were, for various reasons, paying a significant price premium for the "Made in USA" status. Last I noticed, Fender's US product now just says "Corona California" without any "made in", presumably trying to side step the controversy.

 

[jlee562]

Stetson recently posted this article to their IG feed. I had it open in a tab for a while and finally got around to it at the DMV. Apparently they are relocating the body plant to Garland. The Shantung is sourced from China though, which is not exactly a surprise.

https://accessoriescouncil.org/arti...bT3uxzS0BdrELbGrhg_aem_EGf6pSuL_C2FRXVoTsFuQw