A customer from the Santa Barbra California sent us a picture.

Holiday Season!

Shop small is the word. Small business day celebrated all over the US is this week right after Thanksgiving. Remember your miniature hat in a Hatbox, Cowboy Sack, Western Tissue, DVD's full color catalog and the rest of the custom fitting is up to us. If you want a personalized gift, we can make it. Call us and talk to Chely, Terri or whoever answers. We are open Monday thru Friday 8 to 5 Mountain Standard time. Check out our new gift certificates.

 Winter is here, here in Montana we have a few inches of snow and the Temperature was a chilly 5 degrees. It got up to 34 degrees today. I talked to my friend in Fort Worth, Tx today, and it was in the 70's. No wonder all the best team ropers in the world live in Texas. 

The Cowboy Christmas show in Vegas starts on Dec 1st through the 10^th located at the Las Vegas convention center. Rand's booth number is 560. I will be on duty along with Jorge, Kelly, and Cathy. Please come see all our new hats.

 We also created bar codes for ever ones smart phones, so that you can scan it and up pops our latest video. We have new post cards, of the Rancho Deluxe collection coming out this week. I will get them posted for you all to see in the next few days. Watch for our hats on Larry's Country diner on Cable RFTD. Reminds me of the old He Haw show we did for many years with Buck Owens.

 We are working on a lot of Great Cowboy designs for some new ads in conjunction with a very large clothing company for 2012. Our hats are all over the J L Powell USA catalog.
 
 
                                                   Happy Trails From Montana  
 
                                                            Ritch  R.

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