Goorin Bros. Hat Shop in Uptown to Close

Goorin Bros. Hat Shop in Uptown is closing.

Located next door to John Fluevog Shoes, the store opened in late 2012 within the renovated Uptown Theatre storefront space. The heritage hatmaker seemed like a perfect match for the historic Uptown landmark, which was built in 1916. The company was founded in 1895 by a Pittsburgh craftsman named Cassel Goorin, who sold his hats out of a horse cart. Now based in San Francisco, the company is still in the family, owned by his great-great grandson.

A store associate said the closing has to do with their struggles with the Uptown location and not the Goorin Bros. company itself. He said the store has no plans to close any of its other 32 locations across the U.S. and Canada, although it closed stores in Santa Monica and Santa Barbara earlier this year.

The Hennepin-Lake area of Uptown has struggled with retail in recent years, particularly when it comes to unique, smaller retailers such as Goorin and Fluevog. Recent closings include American Apparel (now The Running Room) and Jonathan Adler. Everyday People Clothing Exchange closed a few years back, making way for a  Fjällräven store. Calhoun Square, which used to be home to several locally owned, specialty retailers, is now dominated by big-box brands, such as Arc’teryx, H&M, Kitchen Window, and CB2, plus the North Face, Urban Outfitters, and Victoria’s Secret across the street. Fortunately, longtime retailers Magers & Quinn Booksellers, Brides of France, and Ragstock are alive and well, as are high-end furnishings store Roam Lighting & Interiors and the recently opened Puustelli USA showroom

The entire Goorin Bros. Uptown store is now 50 percent off, including men’s and women’s hats and accessories. The merchandise selection is pretty picked over by now, but you can still try to score a deal or two now until the store closes its doors for the last time on Monday, Nov. 13.

2906 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis, 612-827-1895, goorin.com