Heritage Hats — Attraction in Phoenix

Let's say you need a hat. Not a baseball cap but pretty much any other kind of hat. Rich at Heritage Hats has it.

We've wanted to go for a long time. "God only made a few perfect heads, the rest he covered with hair." So we took my perfect head out to HH. Easy to find (the HATS sign is the first big clue) and easy to park.

It's an unassuming place. Rich, the owner and sole employee (although the dog offered us some suggestions from the back) has been there 40 years. So it's home to him and there's a level of his life there. You're not getting a fitting here. You're not having somebody wait on you. There's no pressure, no constant asking you if you need help. You wanna look at hats? There's more hats here in one place than you've ever seen, I guarantee. He's got hats.

Rich knows his stuff. There's awards and famous people pictures up and letters from people thanking him for his help. It's such a blessing to go into a place where someone just knows their stuff. He's not trying to impress you or make himself look good. You want hats, he's got hats.

We enjoyed engaging with Rich during our time there. Just like the place, he's unassuming and approachable. He's also kind and has a heart behind all those hats. The food bank next door? He established that. Who does he support in a big way? Phoenix Children's Hospital. He is, as you might say, a man of many...hats.

The hats are high quality items and thus are not the price you'd pay at Target or Costco. You want hats? He's got hats.

There's no place else around like Heritage Hats. It's obviously a Phoenix institution. If you want a hat...well, you know now...

Let me start by saying I have been a long-term patron of Heritage hats for the last 40 years. I have bought several hats from him. Recently, a food bank has moved in next door to him, and he has become very defensive of his parking spaces, which is understandable. During my most recent visit, the food bank was open, and their parking lot was full, so the owner of Heritage hats was on full defensive mode. We parked in his parking spot that is marked Heritage hat parking only and began getting out of the car. My wife approached the door before me, right away, he said to her, you can't park there, and my wife was confused, beginning to walk back to the car, not understanding why we couldn't park in front of his store. So we were right away judged as being Food Bank recipients before he even took the time to see who was parking in his customer parking. I realized what was going on. He was guarding his parking spaces like he always does, and when I got to the door, I said no, we don't take handouts. He said in Return I run a food bank myself so everybody's entitled to their opinion. Let me say this, I have worked hard my entire life to earn a living and never had to take a dime from anyone. I am just proud that way. Needless to say, this is not a proper way to greet a customer coming to purchase an item from you. He has always been a grumpy old man, but this is the final straw. He lost a sale and a...

I found Mr. Glisson's store online when I needed a top hat re-sized. I also brought in an inherited fedora from the early part of the last century. He cleaned and blocked them both for a very reasonable price. They both fit better than they ever had, and my old fedora (which has great sentimental value) looked new. Heritage Hats not only provides an excellent product but a superlative customer experience. I returned to shop for a new western hat and he kindly steered me away from one I was considering to a superior hat for the same price. He took the time to help me choose a custom hat band and made sure the hat fit comfortably, reassuring me that should I need sized i could bring it back (which I did) and he would re-fit it at no charge. It is refreshing and sadly, unusual to find a merchant that prides himself on furnishing quality products with one on one service in this world of cold unfeeling "just give me your money and get out" non-service. Just one more reason to buy local! By all means stop in and check out his incredible selection of hats, all styles all colors. If he doesn't have it in stock he can order or make it for you. He is the...