Letter for YOU!

Dear Rand hat friends.

Fall is here and we now look forward to the NFR, our new hats, and hat bands for the show in Las Vegas. (Dec. 1st - 10th). I just returned from Denver Market and we are excited for a great fall and winter. Our dealers are very excited about the new Rancho Deluxe hats. Rands will have samples and pictures from the saddle club collection coming soon to our blog and face book.

We are stocking many colors and styles for Christmas at Black Bear Trading Company in Telluride Colorado.

The ranch at Rock Creek has a new store and a lot of Rand's hats for the guests. Look up Guest Ranch on the internet as it is over the top. You can really get away in style. We started working with them a year ago and they now have had a great season and lots of chances to abuse the Hats at the Ranch.

I was asked to do an interview on t.v. the other day and for those who don't know there ARE two 4's on your alarm clock. I needed to be at the Studio by 5:45 AM. I live 35 miles from town. It turned out good for the hat shop and I appreciate our customers who want to know more about the hat making process. I still have a great passion for this business.

I am going to Cody, Wyoming one day this next week to see Seidel's Saddlery. Keith, the owner, works with the Buffalo Bill Museum in producing a special piece of art work in leather every year. Keith and Lisa also own and run a beautiful Store in Downtown Cody, if you ever go, it is right next to the Famous Irma hotel. This is where Buffalo Bill Cody always Stayed.  

We are starting a sampling process at Beth West in Clear View, Washington. Don't worry; it is just a neat western store in and close to Seattle. Lance the owner has a passion for Hats. www.bethwest.net.  Watch for the Rand hats there soon.  We are now designing some new hats for this store. We let Lance pick and help design as well. I will be in Seattle for a few days and the end of this month. My son Ben and I will get to catch up as he lives there. He grew up in the hat business and is a man who can really give a hat the test in the outdoors. 

Rand's is having a lot of trouble with the fine fur felt this year. It seems to have gone way up in price, but down in quality. Our prices to the customer have changed very little. Our hand selected sweatbands made from the best leather we can get, is thru the roof. We are very selective and it is a narrow field to choose from. That is if you don't want the parts of your hat made and imported from a country you cannot pronounce. 

Everybody needs to go to Barnes and Nobel and ask for the Montana Magazine. There are some great things to see and do in Montana, and of course, a new article about our love of the hat business.    

Also read and see our newest hat in the September issue of JLPowell magazine.   www.JLPowellusa.com  this is a wonderful catalog for the Sporting life. Call them and ask for a catalog or look them up. You will be amazed at the quality of goods. I bought a sweatshirt from them the other day and the packaging was worth the order.

Watch for the new Schaefer Ranch Wear catalog for October. They have a lot of outdoor and cowboy gear.  www.schaeferranchwear.com    Rick and Lynn Grant are the owners and you can call or write them and get any answers you might have about their clothing and gear. By the way all MADE IN THE USA. 

One question that is always asked is, “can you get color swatches from us”. YES, YES and YES

Call or write us for your choices and questions. Monday thru Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM  Mountain time in the USA. 

Watch for our new interactive ad in the cowboy way.  

Happy Trials for now! My dog (Annie) is chasing the Wild turkeys and the horses need to be fed.

Be sure to write us with your comments and pictures. 

Happy Birthday to our good friend Josh.... 
 
          
 
                                               From the Ranch in Montana   
                                                       Thanks   Ritch 

Quick customer letter

Thank you for taking care of my request to have my hat resized and delivered
by the end of October. Your customer service has been the best, and I
appreciate it so much. 


If you can, I would like a catalog sent with the hat.
I plan to order another one of your hats soon. 


Thank you again


 Masato

One quick thought

 There is no self service at Rand's
Would you like your hat Good, Quick or cheap?   (PICK TWO) 




Ritch

Quick post for today

Rich,

Congratulations on the nice feature article in the latest Montana Magazine.
Very nice.

I can't wait for you to be done with my new Sporting Clays hat!!

Cheers!
 
 Mark LaRowe

A customer calls us the other day and started in with a story that is unreal. He’s a customer that ordered a hat six years ago and after placing his order he gets in a serious Horse wreck. Now he can't remember who he is when he wakes up every morning. Six years later his wife was cleaning out the guest room and was getting ready to throw away his old rand hat box when she saw the box and remembered they had a hat on order. Of course we had modified his hats somewhere along the line during the past years but, we had his hat intact still waiting for him…..Only in Montana.
 
                                                                    Ritch

Brad Barkemeyer

 

Update

Dear Hat Fans and Customers,

What a busy few weeks we have had here in Billings.  We’ve had even more tornado warnings, and a lot of rain in the middle of the day. It’s still summer here and the horses are enjoying the summer pasture. Since Montana had a record spring rain fall and winter snow pack, the rivers have finally gone down to normal levels. The county has finally, about two weeks ago, removed the sand bags from the side of our Bridges. 

Our friends from Switzerland at Western Art Outfitters came for their annual hat buying visit. Kurt and his family, always have a big smile on their faces and bring a lot of stories to our shop. They stayed in Montana for a week this time. We enjoyed the time they spent in our shop. They want to have a street party in 2012 at his store. He would invite 200 of his closest friends. Kudos to our friend Kurt and his Store.

Our friends from Reis Ranch in California were in Billings for a two day horse training seminar. Be sure to catch his no dust tour. RFD TV and all the rest is on his web site at reisranch.com. His summer clinics are everywhere. I personally have attended his clinic's for 20 years and always learn something new. Any horse and any problem, Dennis is on it.

The first week of this month, August, we were helping all the PBR customers for a big PBR event in Billings. This draws a huge crowd from all over the Planet. Rand's worked a lot of days in a row to take care of a huge crowd for this event.

Next week we are hosting a private party in Napa, California for the stomp wine growers. Myself and one other staff member will be in St Helena, California at the range mercantile for a opening event, also in San Francisco for a private event. We are being hosted by the Napa wine company on Friday night for a private show in Yountville. If anybody needs to be fitted call my store and we will try to meet up with you while we’re in your area.

We will Be in Denver for the market at the Denver Merchandise Mart on Sept. 9th, 10^th, and 11th  So if you need a private fitting call us.

We are working with a new account in the Seattle area for new designs and stock hats. We will update you on this store as we go.

Watch for our hats in the new JL Powell USA catalog coming out in the next few weeks for fall  Great sporting hats www.jlpowellusa.com 

Watch for a special addition hat in the Schaefer Ranchwear Catalog in the fall www.schaefer-ranchwear.com 

Last but not least we are shipping some custom hats to ORVIS for the made in USA store. I will update everyone on this in the next couple of weeks. ORVIS wanted some Rand's hats custom made for a project on the East Coast.

I will be in Park city Utah for the fall. I will update everyone on that also. See our hats a Burns cowboy shop in Park city. 
Ask for Jake or Stephanie and they will make sure you are taken care of.

Send in some real pictures so we can post them and let everyone see our friends on the road.

Thanks to Dave, Austin, Terri, Chely, Katie, Randy, Luke, Josh, Jorge, Kelly, Steve, Yank and our new trainee Cathy. You will meet some of these people in our store and on the road. All of our friends and employee's are a great support staff for Rand's to bring you the customer the best hat on the planet.

From Montana at the Ranch 

Ritch R.