Lids is returning to the Valley Mall, the Hagerstown region’s premiere indoor shopping experience. It’s about time.
The mall had a Lids store for as long as I can remember. It then suddenly shut down a few years ago, eventually getting replaced with a cellphone accessory store. That left only one Lids store in the area, the remaining Lids store located out at the Hagerstown Prime Outlets.
It would surprise me if the Lids at the Hagerstown Prime Outlets remained in business. The Hagerstown Prime Outlets have been in a steady death spiral ever since Clarksburg Premium Outlets opened off I-270 in Montgomery County. People from the Washington D.C. area would flock to the Hagerstown Prime Outlets. I routinely noticed Congressional licence plates on cars in the parking lots. Bus tours would bring Asian shoppers to Hagerstown Prime Outlets.
As soon as Clarksburg Premium Outlets opened, all that stopped. Soon after, stores at the Hagerstown Prime Outlets began to close. I knew the Hagerstown Prime Outlets was doomed when Nike closed.
Personally, that was a very dark day.
Now that Lids is returning to the Valley Mall, I’m going to need to invest in some more hat shelving. I hated going to the Lids at Hagerstown Prime Outlets. Seeing all the empty stores was depressing. Every time I went Lids, there was someone new working there. The last time I stopped in, the Lids associate was speaking to his girlfriend on speaker phone. It was creepy. I didn’t want to eavesdrop on their conversation, but how could I not? The volume was extremely loud.
I hate buying New Era 5950 fitted hats online. The sizes are so inconstant. When I buy a New Era 5950 fitted online, it’s a real crapshoot if it will fit properly. I wear a size 7 3/4 in hats. With New Era, a 7 3/4 is often too small. I’ve tried the next biggest size, a 7 7/8. Those are too big.
I can make a hat bigger, but I cannot make a hat smaller. I bought a Cowboy Hat Stretcher on Amazon.
As the name implies, this wonderful tool is meant for cowboy hats, but they work great for New Era hats too. Not only for fitted hats, but for snapbacks too. The only problem is knowing how much to stretch a hat. I usually stretch a hat in semi-small increments, testing it before increasing the size.
If you decide to buy a Cowboy Hat Stretcher, you’ll want to buy a 14mm open-end wrench for turning the turnbuckle, if you don’t already own one.
Considering how lousy New Era is at quality control, it’s weird that I like their hats so much.
Update
I just received an email announcing that Lids in the Valley Wall is now open.
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