Overview
Founded in 1995 and comprised of more than 800 mall-based, airport, street level and factory outlet stores nationwide, and in Puerto Rico and Canada primarily under the Lids and Hat World retail brands, Indianapolis-based Hat World Inc. is recognized as a leading specialty retail leader of officially licensed and branded athletic fashion headwear. Hat World also operates smaller retail brands Lids Kids, Hat Shack, Hat Zone, Head Quarters and Cap Connection. Most stores offer a vast assortment of college, MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL teams, as well as other specialty fashion categories all in the latest styles and colors. Some stores also offer a strong complementary line of licensed apparel, and custom embroidery capability. The company serves the core fan and fashion-conscious and trend-savvy mid-teen to mid-20s customer. It also sells its products and promotes its stores through the Internet sites lids.com™, hatworld.com™, lidskids.com™, and hatshack.com™. In addition, licensed Lids stores operate from premier street locations and kiosks within major department stores in Hong Kong and China. Hat World is a subsidiary of Genesco Inc.
Company Infomation
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"Everybody either went to college, or follows a college or professional sports team. Likewise, everybody has $20. A hat is clearly an impulse buy, but one that people can afford."
That is how Glenn Campbell summarized his, and partner Scott Molander's, idea for Hat World. They were right. Today, Hat World Corporation is recognized as a leading specialty retail leader of fashion athletic headwear.
Campbell and Molander got their start as successful managers with a national athletic retailer and decided it was time to go into business for themselves.
"When we spoke with shopping mall executives about how we were convinced everybody needs, or can be persuaded to buy a hat we were told that we were nuts," said Campbell, the company's Chief Operating Officer. "But if a cookie shop can just sell cookies or a pretzel shop can just sell pretzels, why not hats?"
Finally, a mall gave Campbell and Molander a chance from which they sold more than 6,000 hats in just eight weeks. Campbell and Molander acquired a small private financial placement and opened five stores their first year.
After growing to 157 stores in five years, Hat World Corp purchased substantially all of the assets of competitor Lids Corporation, another athletic headwear only retailer, in the spring of 2001. With the addition of the Lids assets, Hat World grew to more than 400 stores, and two online businesses, hatworld.com and lids.com. In April 2004, Genesco Inc. acquired Hat World. Today Hat World operates more than 700 mall-based, airport, street level and factory outlet stores nationwide, and in Puerto Rico and Canada.
Some of Hat World's rapid growth can be attributed to its highly popular Passport Club. The Passport Club provides members with a discount of 20 percent on all hat purchases and a 10 percent discount on apparel and accessories, as well as notification of special offers.
"The idea for Hat World was just that, an idea," summarized Hat World President Ken Kocher. "Our success stems from assembling a team of first-class professionals who stay on top of the wants of the consumer and put customer service first."
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