January 29, 2020
January 29, 2020 - PRESSADVANTAGE -
It may not seem possible but one of the world’s most popular hat manufacturers, American Hat Makers, started out in 1972 as a business that worked out of an old Chevy station wagon. That makes it all that much more incredible that this Watsonville, California hat maker now ships their popular leather hats all over the world. Those who are part of this meteoric rise from humble beginnings in the hat business wanted to share their story.
Company founder and president, Gary Watrous, talked about how American Hat Makers came into being by saying, “I was a struggling college student back in 1972. So I started making leather goods out of the back of my car to earn a few bucks. This hobby to make a little money soon became a passion of mine and it got even better when I quickly started selling everything that I made. I noticed that the hats I made were the best-selling leather items so eventually, that became the businesses predominate item.”
The founder and president also stated that not all of their leather hats are of the normal variety. He even went so far as to describe some of them as ‘pretty wacky’. Some of the craziest looking ones just happen to be among their most popular hat models. This includes their Steampunk Hatter collection and their Voodoo Hatter collection. They also have limited-edition Dream Catcher Hats, a patriotic line of hats, and a full line of their popular western-style hats. He says they are also one of the few hat manufacturers that still make top hats, Fedoras, and bucket style hats.
Gary went on to add the present version of the company has some 40 full-time employees and that makes them one of the bigger employers in rural Monterey county. The founder says all of their hats are still hand sewn but they do use advanced machines to cut the leather. He credits much of their ability to maintain such a high number of employees to the revenue they are now generating from overseas sales.
Garth Watrous, the son of the company’s founder and manager of international sales, had this to say about the company’s growing popularity overseas. “We are proud of the fact that we now export our hats to some 25 or so countries and we expect that list to grow in the not too distant future. Our biggest overseas market now is Asia where Japan and Southern China lead the way in the demand for our unique hats. We also export our hats to Canada, South America, Germany, and many European nations too.”
The international sales manager added that one of the more interesting places that their hats have become popular is the tiny autonomous region of China known as Tibet. He attributes this to the affinity that those in the region have towards American cowboy culture. He says the Tibetan store owner told him that those who live on the range working animals actually have two of their hats in many cases; one lighter hat for the summer and another heavier hat for the colder winter months. Their Tibet distributor has 4 stores at the current time and is already planning on opening up several others.
One of the reasons Garth feels that American Hat Makers has become a successful hat exporter is their association with the San Jose USEAC (United States Export Assistance Center) chapter. He says that they have also taken full advantage of the services from the U.S. Commercial Service’s Gold Key program. Garth says these organizations have opened up opportunities for them overseas that otherwise would not have been possible. He likened the service they have received from the U.S. Commercial Service’s Gold Key program to ‘being treated like royalty’.
For those that are interested in taking a look at the many different styles of hats that American Hat Makers manufacturers, Garth says they can go to the company website. He says it’s full of high definition photos of all of their different hat models.
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For more information about American Hat Makers, contact the company here:
American Hat Makers
1-800-NICE-HAT
125 Aviation Way
Watsonville, CA 95076
