New York City — On Dec. 9, leading sports retailer Lids unveiled its newest retail concept, Lids Hat Drop, with the first store located in Jamaica, Queens, N.Y. The concept is the brick & mortar iteration of Lids’ successful LidsHatDrop.com platform that launched earlier this year.
The Lids Hat Drop store will operate similarly to its e-commerce counterpart, offering exclusive and limited-edition releases, including notable athlete and celebrity collaborations that stay true to the neighborhood, while also working with designers and influencers to build new collections. Consumers at the Lids Hat Drop store will have first access to purchase exclusive hat drops beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET each Friday, before the collection then becomes available on the e-commerce platform at 12:00 p.m. ET that same day.
“After visiting Jamaica, Queens, in 2021, it was clear that the location was ideal for our first brick & mortar Lids Hat Drop,” says Britten Maughan, president of Lids. “The area is known by headwear enthusiasts as the hat mecca of the U.S., so the location allows Lids to lean into hat culture while continuing to drive trends through our exclusive releases. We’ve seen huge success with LidsHatDrop.com but Lids is a brick & mortar retailer at its core, and this concept is yet another step in our strategy to lead the conversation and become even more engrained in the hat community.”
Lids Hat Drop is the latest concept to debut from Lids as the retailer continues to expand its brick & mortar footprint. In July, Lids unveiled its collegiate product-focused retail concept, Lids University (Lids U) and unveiled its largest concept store to date in Las Vegas in October. Lids operates several concept stores including Locker Room by Lids and team-specific stores such as Yankees Clubhouse and Dodgers Clubhouse. Lids also counts the National Hockey League (NHL), National Basketball Association (NBA), and Paris Saint Germain (PSG) as partners as it runs several of each league and team’s respective U.S. and international flagship store locations.
To date, Lids operates over 1,500 stores throughout North America, Europe and Australia. Indianapolis-based Lids Sports Group operates stores under the Lids, Locker Room by Lids, Fanzz, Yankees Clubhouse Shops, Dodgers Clubhouse, Cardinals Clubhouse, and numerous other nameplates. Lids Sports Group Lids also has locations within select Macy’s department stores nationwide.
SOURCE: Lids