Kemo Sabe Jackson — Local services in Jackson

One sticker you see around town a lot in Jackson is, “Say no to Aspen Hole.” I called one restaurant asking about a dress code, and the person responded, “This is Jackson, not Aspen.” Well, Kemo Sabe screams Aspen. It’s a relatively nice store. The hats themselves seem to be high quality, their boots are pretty nice, and they have a nice but small vintage turquoise jewelry selection (although, some items were VERY overpriced). But at the end of the day, this is a store trying to have a little bit of everything and you know what they say about a jack of all trades. I was recently in town for a bachelorette, we’ve been visiting Jackson for a long time, and there’s specific hat shops that are far better and specific jewelry stores that are far better. This is pretty much a tourist trap, a kind of gimmicky shop. The prices on certain items are astronomical. A simple two toned beaded hat hand was $900.00, and did not appear to be real stones or anything like that. You can find more intricate hat bands on Etsy for $30-100! An IDENTICAL hat band was selling at the NFR in Vegas for 1/3 of the price. One of the other local hat shops we like sells hat bands that are in this price range, BUT they’re a Jackson-founded shop with intricate, hand beaded hat bands specifically designed (and often made) by the store owner herself. I truly cannot fathom the price tags on most of these hat bands. We go to the NFR almost every year in Vegas, and I have seen some beautiful expensive hat bands, and usually it’s obvious the amount of workmanship or raw materials that go into them. Not here. Now my personal opinion is that your hat band shouldn’t cost more than your hat, and here, with the current layering style of the day (ribbon, then a hat band, then a feather, then brand your initials on the hat, then put a playing card in the band, and then maybe put a hat pin on the other side) your hat accessories cost double your hat. Although other items in the store were a bit overpriced, the hat bands took the cake. Also, all of these $1,000 hat bands are just hanging on racks, not inside cases, which felt odd to me and reinforced my sense that their actual worth was drastically less than their price tag. Some other good things about the store: their boot selection is one of the better high end boots in town (unfortunately Boot Barn doesn’t carry too many high end fashion boots, and the other awesome boot store closed years ago). They carry Canty brand boots which are really popular with the Vegas Rodeo crowd (which further tells you the vibe of this store). The staff was nice and friendly, and helpful when we were asking to see some of the turquoise jewelry.

In summary, while the store is overall nice, for almost everything in the store you’d be better off going somewhere else which either specializes in a certain area (especially jewelry), or is at normal touristy prices rather than gouging-level prices. Despite being Western, this store (or I suppose, the company) fails to feel authentic, and doesn’t seem to mesh or understand Jackson’s unique identity (fitting, then, that they are beside Kampai). Go and browse Kemo Sabe, but there’s probably a better store with Jackson owners for you...

Wow what an experience at this store! The plan was my husband wanted to pass by this store on the way down south on our US Road trip in October to get his first cowboy hat. He really really wanted me to get one to, but I am conversative when it comes to shopping for things I don't need imminently. We walked out 2 hours later with 2 hats. Firstly the store was well arranged, just like you see in the photos of the store on theie website. We were efficiently approached by staff but it took awhile before we wanted help as we wanted first to get a feel for the place. At the time we saw 1 of the staff members embossing a hat either for a customer or that he was training others. Seemed pretty cool. Anyway, I started looking at jewellry since there was no plan to buy a hat for me, then the husband started the ball rolling. I love the guest journey for getting fitted and everything, it was carefully done where the customer makes the decision with everything and that the staff is there to support and provide expertise opinion. Kristen was the one that helped with arranging all for my husband, and once his hat was basically almost done, this sucked me in to get a one too... Mark helped me select my hat. And I honestly thought if I was to get a hat I would get chocolate brown or black, I walked out with a neutral colour. Both of our hats were beaver fur. It took me forever to choose the decoration for my had, I really wanted turquoise however what I wanted was not available. However I finally selected a chocolate brown leather band with tassles. The embossing part was super fun for me. I did not fancy any of their exisitng molds so we found a travel van outline which was meant to symbolize our road trip. We took videos of the experience. When they fired up and shaped our hats, it was super super cool. Thanks so much again Kristen, Mark and Caleb/Callum? We will never forget this unique...

David G is the one you want to meet if you’re in the market for the perfect Kemo Sabe piece.

I visited Jackson for a friend’s wedding and a group of friends and I decided to indulge ourselves and look for hats. We spent a couple hours in town trying on different hats, but no one was super thrilled. Then we realized Kemo Sabe was across the street from our hotel. We entered the gorgeous store and were immediately immersed in the Kemo Sabe experience. David effortlessly engaged each of us and none of us felt pressured to purchase anything! David’s spirit and vibe was contagious and he truly delivered such an amazing experience. David answered every question, offered perfect feedback, and (most importantly) made the entire interaction so exciting. He has such amazing style, but respects your own and truly exudes his passion for fashion, style, and functionality. I sat on the possibility to purchase my own hat for a day and I was so thrilled to treat myself the following day. David was very much present and enthusiastic when I came back to seal the deal. I ended up having to order my size so I didn’t walk out with the hat, but he had everything locked down and his communication was absolutely amazing after I left Wyoming and went back to the NE. Kemo Sabe + David = the most amazing shopping experience. It’s personalized in the best sense.

Once he received my purchase, he had all of the notes for customization. Sent pics and videos to confirm everything and executed it perfectly. From start to finish, it’s been one of the best retail experiences...