Cash in on the Peak Season for Dress Hats

Profit in a Low Competition/High Demand Item

From now until Mother's Day there will be a heavy demand for ladies church hats. These ladies need a nice church hat for Sundays and know that nice dress hats don't come cheap. The key here is to offer exceptional looks at very affordable prices. Prices have been escalating over the last few years so it's our job to find the fresh designs and best prices. It's your job to promote ladies dress hats in your area. First, this is low competition business. Department stores are caught up in the escalating prices and major discounters can't offer the quality and uniqueness that the ladies demand.

Uniqueness is important because nobody in a small community wants to show up in the same hat as someone else. So here is an idea to help you add numerous unique designs and increase your profit margin at the same time. Choose the basic hats form the dress hat category and choose trims from dress hat trims. These are the same components that many of our finished hats contain and with a hot glue gun and five minutes of time you can produce custom designs and save $8.00 a hat over the cost of finished hats. Cut your inventory after Mother's Day as the business slows, but remember, when someone needs church hats after Mother's Day, you may be the only game in town because what little competition you have, has usually moved on to the next item.

Peak Year for Shapeable Cowboy Hats

Is this the Last Year of the Gold Rush?

For the last three years shapeable cowboy hats have been phenomenal. Celebrities in MTV and country music made rollup cowboy hats a universal fashion statement for guys and gals alike. All of a sudden being country was cool. And for three years the supply never caught up with the demand. Major discounters and department stores have practically missed the entire trend. It has been a boom for small business and 2006 should be the peak year. It is the year that supply may finally catch up so we might not own the market after this year.

Stay ahead of the competition with the right looks. The distressed pinch front raffia is the number one seller (distressed is that well-worn look, like you have been sweating in it for six months while riding herd). Pinch fronts are very good in colors especially for ladies. White, pink, and black are the best and red for the red hatters. Pinch tops (or cattlemen) are good especially in tightly rolled looks. Sparkle is a new look in 2006 with rhinestone bands and sequin highlights. Thin your inventory late in the summer because next year is a question mark.

Casual Hats for Spring

Colors and Straws for the Spring Hat Bonanza

Casual hats are an area where we have to compete with major discounters. They often import their own so have a cheap price (often accompanied with a cheap look). The key is to offer the bright colors which have traditionally been the most popular and sell out first. In addition, carry nice shapes in quality natural straws. Discounters have moved away from sewn and braid straws, which leaves a big window of opportunity for us because they have good body and are quality hats at affordable prices. Shop your local discounters and stock hats that they don't have.

In addition, most wholesalers and majors have decided that the red hat market is over saturated and are dropping out. The market is still there so fill the void.