New Era

Meh. Finally got around to making it out here hoping to find some unique stuff or something different. Instead, it looked like any other ‘Lids’ store. They do have quite a bit of variety when it comes to colors, but they are almost all of the same teams. Lots of NY (Yankees specifically, but that’s to be expected), and lots of front runner hats. I guess that’s to be expected since that’s the style, but if you’re not a fan of the Chicago Bulls or the Yankees, then you’re going to be out of luck. For being dubbed a «flagship» store, I would have expected more. In all honesty, I don’t think it’s worth the trip other than just to say you’ve been.

This New Era is strategically located across from the MLB Fan Cave and not far from some sneaker shops, but the selection leaves a lot to be desired.

I visited this store on 2 occasions and the service was very good. Ask for your size and if it doesn’t fit they have you try on the correct size.
Good customer service.
The store located on 4^th street, just look for the NewEra posters in front of the window.

I’ve had to throw away several New Era Caps purchased online and in the store. Logos placed on crooked, crooked stitching, different fit for the same size.
Why this company has no quality control is beyond me. The last straw was this evening when I purchased a Super Bowl 48 hat. When I got home I realized that the logo in back was slanting downward to one side. You can’t even make an official Super Bowl hat without error? This is pathetic.
I’ve also seen on field MLB hats with laughable defects on them. For $ 35 a hat they better be flawless.
Sorry but I don’t feel comfortable wearing defective merchandise.
Unfortunately New Era owns the rights to many cool logos and when they do a hat correctly they look great but it is a roll of the dice every time you buy a hat.
I am fed up.

On a side street on East 4^th Street is a barely noticeable store. If it weren’t for a flag with the New Era logo on it outside, one would hardly know it was there. Sometimes you need a fresh cap that Modells, Sports Authority or Kamp-​like stores do not carry or one more unique. And any brand will not do because you’re trying to look fresh or nicer. There’s a reason New Era caps are so popular they just feel more snug and firm because they are supposedly fitted. There are different sizes that fit a big head, excuse me, more rounded or a smaller head. The material molding the caps have a more dense and stronger feel than other brands. Just my two cents anyway. I would say Lids is a good equivalent and carry New Era as well as other brands but I really like the New Era brand. I go to the flagship store because the design of the store is designed well, structured just as a straight wide aisle with a wall full of caps on one side and the cashier on the other. With hardwood flooring, mirrors on the wall and a bench to sit view which design you want to pick, makes for a nice feel of the store. There’s further selections in the back.
The New Era store has:
—A larger selection of different and unique New Era designs, not just sports like Yankees, Mets, Rangers but also non-​New York and cool designs like «Sorry I’m FRESH» and the like
—The inventory fluctuates with the season or week, meaning it’s not always the same designs they have on display, I bought a cap and liked another I was going to get later. I came back the next week to buy it and they no longer had it :[
—You can try on the caps to see how they fit and look (please have a clean head) but when you purchase they slide out a new one for you
—The staff will not hound you, take your time to purchase or not
—Say you know someone who wears caps often, they have gift cards and I would not recommend under $ 40 because that’s the average per hat with the tax. All purchases are wrapped really nicely in their logo bags and boxes.

Loved it, didnt really expect super customer service, but great selection.

Word to the wise — they don’t open up until 11AM or 12PM — so don’t bother coming early.
As the flagship store of the New Era empire — this place is pretty crappy. Most of the hats on display are junk you can find at any mall at a Lids. There are sometimes some $ 1K+ one-​offs on display and there’s a small history/​manufacturing display in the back — but it’s pretty underwhelming. It’s really in the middle of nowhere and it’s just a dinky shop. And the staff are pretty aloof, but oh well.
However, if you look hard enough — you will find some pretty limited hats. I copped my Whalers and Nordique throwbacks here (not the weird colourflips or snapbacks). And the rarest of the rarest: blank New Era fitteds. Come get them, kiddies and stitch your gang logo on ‘em!
But ya, you will see a lot of tourists here buying stuff available at every Lids at every mall. Oh well. But if you keep your eyes open, there are limited hats available if you know what to look for.
Other spots to hit up if you’re willing to hunt (outside of any specific streetwear boutique or flagships in SoHo):
— Fulton Street Mall (BK)
— eCapCity — long bus ride out in NJ (
)
— Fitteds By Chin (Chinatown —
)
— Frank’s Chop Shop (LES —
) — very small fitted collection in a barbershop, but pretty rare housebrand.
Anyways — it’s worth a stopby since it’s by DQM and Memes. As a hat store in Manhattan — it’s pretty good. As the flagship store of New Era — meh. At least it’s not as shitty as the Toronto New Era.

Usually whenever I take a trip, I anticipate which hat I will buy from that city. Then the mission to find that particular hat is the hard part. So I stumbled upon the New Era shop and was very impressed by their selection. I usually pick from the classic on field caps but it’s great that there is such a variety if I wanted to venture out and have something more flashy. I purchased a Mets cap and forgot to try it on so I had to come by the next day to exchange it. After scouring the Internet to find hours of operation, I could not for the life of me find out what time they open. 11am on a weekday, luckily I went down there on the chance they would be open. I would recommend that they put their hours of operation on a message machine so that when you call you can save yourself a 9am trip. The guys at the shop exchanged my hat with no problems and were generally friendly. I’ll come back next time I’m in NYC.

Some of the largest selection of NEW ERA hats here at the FLAGSHIP, but I’ve seen better on FULTON.

Been here a bunch of times, and I love it. I’ve actually made trips just to go to this store, and from jfk airport its not that hard to get to, about 45 minutes.

Large selection of hats!!! They also have alot of T-​shirts! Not a real welcoming store… =/​If you dont care too much about service & know what you’re looking for then this store is cool to check out… Theres at least 4 workers & no one even greats you… They dont carry alot of things that you would find in LIDS. which is kinda weird caz… They also dont have much color ways…
Cool store to check out if your in the area i guess… =D

3 stars for the quantity of hats, organized displays, and customer service, but no NBA or NFL licenses right now? That’s a huge chunk of business lost right there.

Overhyped and rather unimpressive.
The grand opening sent shockwaves across the country, as even those of us all the way in the Bay heard the news. It was the first of its kind, the flagship store of the most popular hat brand in the world, and was supposedly a paradise for fans, a mecca of sorts for those in the fashion world.
…
Wishful thinking.
From the website and the countless articles about this place, I would have thought that it was some sort of gargantuan museum showcase for the newest and greatest designs, ala Niketown. NOT. Ultimately, this «flagship» store is nothing more than a dinky little storefront no more than 15 feet across, in the middle of a secluded street. As a matter of fact, I had walked by numerous times with the sole intention of locating the shop, and you might as well call it Pharcyde because I just kept passing it by. Instead of the massive showroom decked out from wall to wall with the illest new designs, what we are presented with amounts to the size of two local mall Lidz outlets at best. The droves of people you see in the ads? More like a total of two patrons in the entire store — my favorite Unilocaler and I.
I was expecting to score some rare Hypebeast-​esque limited edition New Era caps, but was disappointed to see nothing more than the same old Major League issue hats you can find at Any Mall, USA. Although I could have just as easily gotten one back home, I did end up copping an all black A’s fitted (putting it down for the Bay!) for no reason other than to say I purchased it at the «world famous» New Era Flagship Store. Not that it means a whole lot.

If it’s time to get yo freak on or simply keep the sun off your face, you can do worse that hitting up the NEW ERA flagship store on East 4^th.
While I’d sooner eat my own foot than listen to Rap music (exhibit A:
), Pop-​culture is of great interest and in this store you’ll find a core crew of passionate cap collectors. Props to Hanif who kindly showed me around the store and explained the points of difference with certain runs of caps. Variety is key: different teams, different color schemes and different materials make all the difference in walking out of the shop a «player» rather than a «faker».
A standard team cap will set you back about $ 28.00. Aside from being at the welfare end of the price spectrum, I reckon this price point gets you something with a bit of old-​school cred. Then again what do I know, I’m extremely white.
You can also step up to the fully blinged-​up, tricked-​out versions which have erm, «classy» diamantes embedded within the team logos.
If you’re sooo money and have a rep-​u-​tation to uphold I recommend the (VERY) limited edition crocodile skin Yankees cap which will set you back a cool $ 1000.00 but is worth every penny when you’re in da club. (Also check out the, I-​shit-​you-​not Giraffe version). I think we both know what a crocodile skin Yankees cap does for the ladies, don’t we…