Goorin Bros.

For my bachelor party, we went Rat Pack/​20s Gangster, and I needed a hat to complete my outfit. My fiancée had previously decided that what few hats I had were not acceptable, and it was time to step up from dollar-​store costume hats to the real thing. Fortunately, I remembered the stylish selection at Goorin from walks in the neighborhood for sushi and ice cream, so I stopped in with my best man to find my new look.
The selection is actually surprisingly broad and decidedly classy. Nothing cheesy or gimmicky here, just a range of hat styles for the discerning gentleman. You won’t find a single salesman here — you’ll find a knowledgeable, affable purveyor. If you come across the right hat but it needs a slight stretch or steam, they can do that for you on-​site. Hat accessories are available, too, and I found a great feather for my new fedora. That night, I went out looking sharp and did Frank proud.
TRIVIA: The maker and seller of hats is properly called a «milliner» or «hatter». (I mistakenly thought «haberdasher» applied, but that’s a person who sells sewing supplies like needles and buttons.) The phrase «mad as a hatter» comes from the shakes and shyness indicative of mercury poisoning, a common hat-​making chemical in the 19^th and 20^th century.

High-​quality hats, great service and stylish selections. What more can you ask for?

This is a shout out to Freya who really loves and knows everything about hats and helped my husband and I out last night. Freya, you have incredible service. I never knew the hat world had so much trivia and avenues to explore. We could have simply returned the hat I bought as an early Christmas present for my husband but you stood by your love for hats and we walked away very pleased with your fitting of his leather fedora. To management: what a lovely member of your business!

Since I was a very young lad I have alway purchased my hats from the Berkeley Hat Company. (Fat Apples, Irish 8 section GATSBY, Beret, & a wide brim Straw Panama) I decided to go check out Goorin Bros on Collage Ave. I must say that it is now my most favorite place to purchase a hat in Berkeley.

Great store with a nice selection of styles and colors of hats! The gentlemen that helped had an incredible memory of our last visit was very helpful! Walked away with another stylish hat!!!

For years I have been telling people that I have a big head and can never find hats that fit. No one believed me and always said «oh it’s because you have BIG hair»! Nope, I have a big head. I was so excited to find hats here in different sizes. None of this «one size fits all» nonsense. My hair was flat and I still needed an XXL. The good news is I now have a stylish hat. I can’t wait to come back and start a hat collection!

Goorin means quality, style, and sophistication. These hats are for real! And he only reason I keep coming back to this particular location is because of my main hat man, Willie! Not only is he a champion at making hat recommendations, but he can even make custom adjustments to your new top to make sure you rock it with complete satisfaction. Willie is the real deal: he makes hats in the back of the store!!!

I am a hat guy. I also used to work near a different Goorin Bros. location. As a result; I’d purchase 4 – 5 hats a year and was a very happy Goorin Bros. customer.
I got my g/​f into hats as well; but now we live near this Berkeley location which we do not like. As a result; we have purchased exactly 0 hats from this location in the last 2 or 3 years. In one case, she tried one on, but we refused to give this location the business and I bought it on Goorin’s web-​site.
I like Goorin’s hats and I don’t mean to be rude as I am not a very uptight person; but we do not purchase anything here because of the annoying staff member with bad body odor that is obnoxious from the moment you walk in the door to the moment you hit the sidewalk. Neither of us want someone putting hats on our head when we have not engaged the person in conversation, we do not need to endlessly take hats off of our heads that we did not like enough to try on in the first place. If we do not show interest in something, we don’t need a salesperson to pump it up and try to get us to be interested in it. It’s one thing to engage in conversation but this experience for us is just too weird and uncomfortable.
I know this person means well; but neither of us want to stand in that store with the smell and the fact that we can’t just browse and buy what we want comfortably without being bothered so much despite our polite responses that we are ok to browse.
Yesterday we were in the area and my first inclination when I see a Goorin store is to walk in — we did — we regretted it — we left and had a conversation with each other about how we really regret the fact that we are so uncomfortable at a store that we really like and want to go to.
Goorin overall gets 5 stars from me but my g/​f and I hate walking into this store.

I *DO NOT* recommend this store, here’s why:
After about 3 weeks of use, the hat I bought for 140+ dollars started to show discoloration (and also lost some of its original shape, but that is minor IMO), so I went to the store sure that they would be able to help, explained what happened, showed them the hat and was told that there was nothing that they could do.
Better, I could take somewhere else to get it fixed and that was doe to my sweat or something of the kind.
I asked the asian-​guy hat seller with the panama hat if that was it: I had gotten an item that wore out in less than 3 weeks and all he would say was that it was my problem. His reply was: yes.
Don’t get me wrong, I have a number of hats and nothing like this has ever happened.
Quite disappointing… I cannot believe that their product quality was so poor and that I was treated the way I was.
To end the story, I told the seller: look, I am thorn between tossing this hat, because it is not usable, or returning. He gave me a blank stare. So, I left the hat in the store and walked away.
I lost 140+ bucks, but didn’t loose my dignity as for being treated poorly as a customer.

I received a Goorin Brothers knit cap from The Sibling and The Sibling’s Spouse as a Christmas present. A golden toned knit cap. The Sibling Spouse’s is a fan of Goorin Brothers’ hats and raved about how much they love the hats. The Sibling was wearing one of their caps. Made a note-​to-​self to check out Goorin Brothers when I was in the Elmwood area whist hanging out with my friend during our get together for lunch.
After Ici, we stopped in at Goorin Brothers. The associate, a very sweet gentleman welcomed us in the store. My friend knew somebody who worked there once upon a time at this branch. She was surprised as was I that he had moved on and was no longer here. I told him that I had received a knitted cap from a family member for X-​mas. Just for fun, he put hats on our heads, I might add that he selected a hat for each of us. He selected a gray blue fedora and put it on my head.
I did check out the other knitted caps. The make and weave as well as color I was looking for were sold out. I was hoping to find either a blue or a black one to go with the golden one I received. There was a blue that was not quite the blue I was looking for. I do know I want to come back for another visit.
I quite like the interior here of Goorin Brothers hat store. An old-​fashioned artisanal, boutique, and kind of a Wild West general store feeling with personalized service. Kind of a throwback to the good ol’ days of shopping at places like Brooks Brothers and Cable Car Clothiers back in the day. Wood furnishings made up of cabinet shelves of hats, tables displaying hats – one has to go inside and see for themselves.
Besides the kit caps, there are all styles to see and choose from. Fedoras, cloches, newsboy caps, berets, bowlers, Panama hats, straw hats, and the porkpie hat. For this film and media studies student, knowing a bowler was the trademark of Charlie Chaplin and the porkpie was the trademark of Buster Keaton in their respective films. Must make a note to try on those hat styles on my next visit.
Another visit is definitely in the cards at this branch of Goorin Brothers. I shall return. Cheers!
SYOY! Ciao!

Their hats are attractive but do not necessarily hold up for the premium prices. $ 160 gone forever. :(
I bought maybe my 5^th Goorin hat there recently — but it was the first one that actually cost a lot: $ 140 («highest quality» «hand made» etc). I wore it to an event for maybe 5 hours — it was quite hot there, so I sweated — and it ended up shrinking/​misshaping the hat to where it was too small in every direction (point being, stretching the headband did nothing to help it fit). I went back to the store and they couldn’t do anything to help the shape/​size of the hat. I spoke with customer service — nice folks who agreed the hat should have been able to withstand a hot head for a couple hours. But ultimately they offered me only a 35% discount on rebuying the same expensive hat for a second time. At the end of the day, I was not going to pay $ 230 total to get a working hat (one that is clearly not very sturdy or resilient).
The «old» hat is a total loss, along with my $ 140 plus the $ 20 hat band that I bought for it. $ 160 (plus tax) down the toilet.
Note that I own other hats (fedoras, a top hat, etc.) from other stores that cost $ 100+ and they have survived for years. So, Goorin loses my business moving forward (back to Berkeley Hat Company for me) as well as this poor review.
The store does have a fine selection and it is staffed with super nice people.
Sorry, Goorin… you gotta back up those prices with reliability and quality.

Great Hats here! I got two hats and my wife got one too! They let you try all kinds of hats and stretch them out for you if they are too tight! Very good selection and excellent service!

I have a big head. Not that I qualify for circus-​status, but I’ve always found it challenging to find hats that fit me and don’t make me look like a dork. Willie helped me find a nice pork pie hat that works well for me. Now, I’m a cat in a hat. This shop is pretty groovy, with a nice jazz soundtrack (real jazz, not Kenny G.) I highly recommend Goorin Bros.

Visiting the bay area from NYC. Walk into this fancy hat shop. Left feeling great with a cool new hat. I usually don’t wear hats but i was into the idea of trying it. An employee, Dan (Dan Dan), picked one out for me and called it my ‘traveler’ hat. It went so great with me that I had to buy it and wear it out of the store. Such a welcoming and helpful staff along with their great up keep makes a wonderful store.

Thanks to our very own fashionista, Miss East Bay CM, Nique, I *had* to head to :) Goorin Brothers for a new hat for a friend.
You see, while on a Unilocal Field Trip in Rockridge, Miss Nique wandered into Goorin Brothers (I believe with Markus N. in tow) and purchased an absolutely lovely cloche. I believe that he may have purchased a jaunty hat himself as well.
Tres chique.
I knew then that *this* was the place where my friend could find a custom hat to fit his bigger-​than-​average sized noggin. This guy has an extra large head, and cannot find *any* hats that fit him!
Well, the sales guy, Tim, spent an hour with my friend, assisting him in trying on different styles of various brims and noses, colors, and materials. My friend finally settled on «The Doctor» Wool Fedora and «The Strongman» Newsboy Wool Cap.
How dapper!
Tim told him how to take care of his new lid and offered to stretch the cap if it was too tight. His associate even steamed out the wrinkle in the trim-​ribbon around the brim.
We walked out with my friend wearing his elegant topper. After a while, he said, «Wow! Finally my head isn’t cold anymore! And I’ve been getting friendly smiles and „Hey, lookin’ good“ nods from passers-​by. That never happens!»
I’m pretty certain that he’ll be back in the Springtime/​Summertime for a warm season hat ;)
*Tip: They have a Frequent Buyer Card! You know how I feel about F.B.C.s. I love ‘em. They even keep it safe for you in their card file, so you won’t lose it.
Sure, it’s B10G1, but if you’re a lifelong customer and enjoy adding a dapper chapeau to your collection now and again, then it’s a great deal for you.

Goorin Brothers Hat Co. is a special magical place where you can get away and explore the unknown. Explore yourself — your personality — in a hat. It takes you back into a time (time capsule) when people used to care much about looking classy and stylish. And Goorin Bros is a family-​run company going back since 1895!!! A lot of heart and soul goes into this company and you can feel it in all aspects, from product, to design of the shop, design of display, the folks who work at the shops, the gift wrap that goes with your hat. It’s a gem of a place. You are guaranteed a good time at the hat shop.
I had an awesome rep by the name of Nica help me find the perfect hat for work. All the reps there are great, are there to help you find just what you’re looking for and are not pushy at all about it. Classy store, classy sales folks, and boat load of classy hats. You’re in for a treat. Think Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Mad Men, Big (Tom Hanks movie, don’t ask me why), and Ginger Rogers & Fred Astaire oh and Frank Sinatra good Ol’ Blue Eyes. Mwah to all the Goorin Bros. peeps!!!

I had an absolute ball at their hat party last month!
I even bought a hat pen and watched a nice jazz band perform,
The manager is very nice and knowledgeable about his hats!
:-)
great place to look for and buy an expensive gift for a man,

Way better selection at random stores and online.
I planned on buying a few hats there and couldn’t find one decent one I wanted. Spent 5 minutes online and found 5 – 10 better hats same brand.
Also… They had 2 people working in front and only 3 customers in the store. No one asked me if I needed any help and I even stood in front of a guy at the register for a couple minutes before I left.
Don’t bother going to this store.

Fresh dress like a million bucks put on my Bally shoes and my fly green socks. Stepped out the house stopped short, «OH NO!» I went back in I forgot my… Goorin Bros. yea! Kangol is so 2000 and late.
I love hats like a kid loves Christmas Morning. Sure it’s pricey but dang, it’s sharp.
This store delivers. They have a lot of styles for discerning taste. Choose well don’t want to get caught in a felt fedora in tropical weather. Don’t be that guy. That’s just straight up tacky and downright sweaty. Ask for help they’ll give it to you straight up. Stop by, try it. I think you’ll like it.

Been to SF and NYC store before, so I’m familiar with the merchandise. 4-​star hats for 3-​star prices– great selection for both genders, and in-​between!
The Elmwood store is very unpretentious, and the employees are notably more friendly than any other location I’ve been to.
Their selection of decorative feathers is ever-​expanding.
Of course, every non-​hat accessory is ridiculously over-​priced, but still… CLASSIC HAAAAAAAAAATS! (Don’t mind the exorbently-​priced hat-​brush)