©2020 Saratoga Photographer.com
By Andrea Harwood Palmer
Joyce Locks has consolidated her three Hatsational storefronts into two. The remaining stores are located at 508 and 510 Broadway in downtown Saratoga Springs, in the Algonquin Building near the Saratoga City Center.
The lease was up on the third store, but was not renewed to cut costs.
“It will put me in a stronger position to come out on the other side of this pandemic, if I scale down to two stores for now,” said Locks. “As my lease came due, I had this vision that we wouldn’t open anytime soon. Then when you consider there are no conventions, no weddings, no concerts, no racetrack,” she said. “My business is driven by all of those factors.”
“I intend to survive this, and this is the best way for me to come out strong. We can always open a third store another time,” said Locks.
As businesses return in the region, “I’m extremely excited to be opening,” said Locks. “We’ve totally prepared the stores to be safe for us and our clients. There’s a lot of people who are old-fashioned and want to buy in a shop as opposed to online. I get a couple of calls a week from people anxious to shop in the store. They’re just ready and waiting. We’re not going to do the business we did before, right away, but it will slowly come back. And hats are something you just have to try on.”
“You have to tighten your belt and be very careful financially. You have to be wise with your expenses and inventory. It’s going to be at least until spring of next year until we return to some kind of normal volume of business. As long as you plan on the worst case scenario, you should be in good shape,” said Locks.
Locks started Hatsational in 2007, first as a home-based business. She was inspired by her affinity for horses and headwear. She hosted hat salons in her home in Saratoga Springs, then branched out to pop-up events around town. Shortly after, Locks was selling hats at Saratoga Race Course on invitation from the New York Racing Association.
Locks opened her first storefront in 2013. A year later, she opened a second location across town and in 2016, opened up a third location directly next door to her original storefront. The adjacent spaces are now separate men’s and women’s hat shops.
Hatsational carries its own line of hats, as well as designer headwear from Italy, France, Germany, Australia, Mexico, Equador, Russia, Canada and the U.S.
Hatsational can be reached at 518-587-1022. The website is www.hatsational.com. The store mantains active social media accounts on Instagram and Facebook.