OUR
HERITAGE
Our founder, George Bollman
Our Heritage
Bollman Hat Company is the oldest hat maker in America, and among the world’s oldest because of a stewardship culture and a continuous focus on our innovation, unsurpassed quality, and world-class service.
Drawing inspiration from many generations of Bollman hatters dating back to our beginning in 1868, our employee-owners today make products that give our loyal customers fashion, outdoor function, fun, and a personal style statement. We supply our world-wide customers warmth from the cold, skin protection from the sun, and a great look in all climates.
What sets the Bollman Hat Company apart from other companies in our market? How are we able to survive longer than any other U.S. based hat company?
We are an employee-owned company and that positively motivates a large percentage of our teammates to perform to a higher level. We involve our employees-owners and global teammates in what we are trying to accomplish and ask for their ideas. We share our success with regular reports, annual ESOP statements, and profit-sharing distribution. We have employee-owners who are the fourth generation of their family who have worked for our company and many of our employee-owners achieve forty years of service and more. Fourteen employees exceeded fifty years with our company!
We have innovated unique designs, styles, finishes, and constructions that have been copied but not duplicated.
We have the headwear industry’s leading collection of brands including, KANGOL®, the world’s most recognized headwear brand, Bailey®, Betmar®, Country Gentleman®, Eddy Bros.®, and Helen Kaminski®. These brands lead or are in the top two or three of their competitive market set.
We continue to evolve our strategic mission to build our company and the future of our employee-owners and their families.