Lids continues store expansion with two firsts
Lids continues to expand with both new and existing concepts.
The retailer, known for its fan headwear and licensed athletic merchandise, opened its first brick-and-mortar iteration of an e-commerce platform that it launched early this year. Located in Jamaica, Queens, the new Lids Hat Drop store operates similarly to its e-commerce counterpart, offering exclusive and limited-edition releases.
The store will drop new releases every Friday, including "Queens Store Exclusives" that will not be available at another location. The assortment includes notable athlete and celebrity collaborations that stay true to the neighborhood, Lids said. Designers and influencers will also create new collections for the store.
Customers at Lids Hat Drop will have first access to purchase exclusive hat drops beginning at 11:00 am ET each Friday, before the collection then becomes available on the e-commerce platform at 12:00 pm ET that same day.
"After visiting Jamaica, Queens in 2021, it was clear that the location was ideal for our first brick-and-mortar Lids Hat Drop," said 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-and-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.”
In another first, Lids has opened its first store on one of the nation’s most prestigious shopping streets: Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Located at 539 Fifth Ave., the 5,000-sq.-ft. store features a dedicated custom corner with two embroidery machines for consumers to personalize their headwear, and a “Fanzone” offering major league sports jerseys customization. It also has a hat press.
The assortment includes MLB, NFL, and NHL merchandise. In the coming months, the store will include a digital wall on the second floor along with a digital screen in one windowfront.
Lids Hat Drop is the latest concept to debut from Lids as the retailer continues to expand its brick-and-mortar footprint. In July, Lids debuted a new store concept, called Lids U, targeted at the lucrative college sports market. And in September, Lids opened its largest store to date, a two-level, 12,000-sq.-ft. flagship on the Vegas Strip.
Lids Sports Group is the largest licensed sports retailer in North America, selling fan and fashion-oriented headwear and apparel across North America, Europe and Australia through more than 1,500 retail locations.
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 more than 1,500 stores throughout North America, Europe, and Australia. Lids also has locations within select Macy's department stores nationwide.