Lids Unveils Newest Retail Concept

NEW YORK, NEW YORK (December 9, 2022) – Sports retailer Lids unveiled its newest retail concept, Lids Hat Drop, with the first store located in Jamaica, Queens, New York. The concept is the brick and mortar iteration of Lids’ successful LidsHatDrop.com platform that launched earlier this year.

From baseball caps, to snapbacks, beanies and beyond, Jamaica, Queens has a rich history of hat culture that Lids will honor through a community-driven approach to upcoming headwear releases and store programming. The Lids Hat Drop store will operate similarly to its ecommerce 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 a.m. Eastern Time each Friday, before the collection then becomes available on the ecommerce platform at noon 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,” 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.”

Prominently located on Jamaica Avenue, the store will drop new releases every Friday, including “Queens Store Exclusives” that are only available in this location. Timothy Goodman, a well-known, local New York artist, was commissioned to create the impressive mural featured in the store. Consumers can expect the same unparalleled retail experience from Lids Hat Drop including Lids’ signature Custom Zones, which allow consumers the opportunity to custom-embroider a product of their choice in-store. One of the first major hat releases, MLB Season’s Greetings 59FIFTY, will feature holiday-themed motifs and drop just in time for the holiday shopping season. In addition to headwear, the store will include Mitchell & Ness MLB and NBA Jerseys, Ebbets Field Flannels (EFF) products and much more.

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 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. Lids continues to be the world’s largest retailer specializing in the sale of officially licensed, branded, and fashion headwear, with over 30 million hats sold annually.