SIC 2353 Hats, Caps, and Millinery
SIC 2353
This category includes establishments primarily engaged in the manufacture of hats, caps, millinery, and hat bodies. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing millinery trimmings are classified in SIC 2396: Automotive Trimmings, Apparel Findings, and Related Products. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing hats and caps of paper are classified in SIC 2679: Converted Paper and Paperboard Products, Not Elsewhere Classified; those manufacturing caps of rubber are classified in SIC 3069: Fabricated Rubber Products, Not Elsewhere Classified; those manufacturing caps of plastics are classified in SIC 3089: Plastic Products, Not Elsewhere Classified; and those manufacturing fur hats are classified in SIC 2371: Fur Goods.
315991
Hat, Cap, and Millinery Manufacturing
The hat, cap, and millinery manufacturing industry continued its gradual decline in the mid-2000s, as did other apparel-related industries. Despite periodic surges in fashionable headwear sales, especially sports caps, the overall market remained relatively flat. Other fad-driven resurgences include knit beanies sported by snowboarders and other X-sports enthusiasts and emulators, and the red carpet presence of the fedora by such celebrities as Alicia Keys and Justin Timberlake. Although typically short-lived, these trends are welcome developments for an industry whose fortunes had been steadily drifting downward since the early 1960s, when a national trend toward hatlessness began.
In addition to the most popular form of casual headwear, the ball cap, the industry's output included straw harvest hats; jungle-cloth helmets; opera hats; panamas; and hat bodies made from fur-felt, straw, and wool-felt. To professional uniform services, the industry supplied chauffeur caps, police hats and caps (excluding protective headwear), and various other uniform hats and caps.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 201 U.S. establishments were involved in the manufacture of hats, caps, and millinery items in 2005, down from 250 in 2002. Total product shipments were valued at $433 million.
Of the establishments engaged in the production of hats, caps, and millinery, about 75 percent employed fewer than 50 employees. The average hourly wage was roughly $13.50 per hour.
The U.S. Census Bureau found that the largest concentration of the industry's establishments was located in the mid-Atlantic region. In terms of the number of establishments per state, New York topped the others with 49 establishments, followed by California's 20 and Texas's 17. In terms of employee numbers, however, New York was immediately followed by Missouri and Virginia.
Disaggregation of the industry's total output by its major product category indicated that cloth hats and caps, excluding millinery, accounted for the largest market share. Within this category, men's and boys' hats and caps dominated. It is important to note that the fad-driven growth in the sales of sports headwear bearing the team logos from the National Basketball Association, the National Football League, Major League Baseball, and the National College Athletic Association also fell within this major product category, but their sales continued at a record pace.
The second major product category was hats and hat bodies, except cloth and millinery. Next followed the classification of hats, caps, and millinery products, not specified by kind. The last major product category was millinery (women's, children's, and infants' trimmed hats made from hat bodies and other millinery materials). This included hats made from felt, straw, pile fabrics, and ribbon.
Prior to the more recent era of hatlessness, which took root during the suburbanization wave of the 1950s and 1960s, no respectable man or woman would have thought of leaving the house without a hat. The question of whether the hat industry would survive or not was unheard of during this time. Instead, of vital concern to the successful firms competing in the industry was their ability to produce and market an unending procession of new styles or modified variations of current popular styles. Since the life of a hat as a fashion...
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