New Era Cap Company

New Era Cap Company, Inc.

Type	Private
Industry	Apparel
Founded	1920
Headquarters	Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Key people	Ehrhardt Koch (Founder) Christohper H. Koch (Current CEO)
Products	Headwear, Belts, Shirts
Revenue	$343.7 million (2007)[1]
Operating income	Unknown
Net income	Unknown
Employees	1,700 (worldwide)
Website	neweracap.com

The New Era Cap Company (or just New Era),^[2] located in Buffalo, New York, is a headwear manufacturer. It was founded in 1920 by German immigrant Ehrhardt Koch.^[3] New Era is the exclusive manufacturer and marketer of the official on-field cap worn by every Major League Baseball team and their minor league affiliates, as well as select teams in the KBO^[4] and NPB, and maintains agreements with other licensed entities including NHL, NBA and over 200 colleges and universities in the United States. New Era will also become the official on-field cap provider for the National Football League in April 2012.^{[citation needed]}

History

In 1920, Ehrhardt Koch founded his own hat company, E. Koch Cap Co. His company started with 14 employees and was located on the third floor of 1830 Geneese Street on the corner of Bailey in Buffalo, New York. In 1922, the company name was changed to New Era Cap Company. In 1932, the company designed its first version of a baseball cap. In 1934 the company started producing its first professional baseball team's caps: The Cleveland Indians home and road caps. This was in the years before exclusive licensing, so New Era was competing with other cap-producing companies at the time. Their main competitors were Wilson, Spalding, Rawlings, McAuliffe (later KM Pro, then Roman Pro), and a number of other companies. New Era also manufactured caps for some of those companies under private labeling. By the 1940s, New Era was producing caps for many professional baseball teams. In the late 40s New Era unveiled their adjustable cap. However the company still mainly manufactured fitted hats.

In 1954 the fitted hat was redesigned and named the 59Fifty, a.k.a. the 'Brooklyn Style' cap. Cloth sweatbands were also introduced at this time (leather sweatbands would be slowly phased out until the end of the 1980s). By the year 1965, New Era was supplying caps for ten Major League Baseball teams. In 1969, New Era supplied the crew of Apollo 11 Splashdown Recovery Operation with unique custom hats. New Era did the same for all later recovery missions. New Era had grown more by 1974, and now supplied 20 out of 24 Major League teams with caps. By the early 1980s, New Era not only supplied caps for 23 Major League Baseball teams, but for college sports, local, AAA and International baseball, tennis, golf, and custom orders. But in 1986 a huge step was taken. New Era (along with competitor Sports Specialties, Inc.) was granted co-exclusive licensing and unveiled the "Diamond Collection", which they supplied to MLB teams and were sold to the general public. Wearing "What the Pros Wear" became a major trend. New Era was granted exclusive licensing for MLB caps after the 1993 season, beating out their main (and final) competitor, Sports Specialties. Now all of baseball was supplied with New Era caps for their games. In 2006, New Era, having outgrown their facility in Derby, moved to a new larger headquarters in Buffalo.

Distribution

New Era caps are sold at large retail chains, but the company also contracts with independent retailers who wish to carry their products. The company's first flagship store opened in May 2006 in New York City's SoHo district. In November 2006, a second flagship store opened in the company's hometown of Buffalo, New York. A third store followed opening in London in spring 2007. In August 2007, the company's Toronto store, on Queen Street West, and Atlanta store, on the corner of Cone and Luckie, opened. New Era also has opened two more European Flagship stores, one in Berlin and another in Birmingham, and another in Tokyo.

Products

In March 2007, New Era changed the on-field cap in American baseball. Instead of the 100% wool caps players were used to, the company introduced caps made of 100% Performance Polyester. These alterations marked the first major change to the classic baseball hat in over twenty years. The new caps also include a black under-visor (to help reduce glare) as opposed to the old gray colored under-visors, as well as a black sweatband instead of the old white sweatbands.^[5]

The new visors are also larger than the previous iteration and cause the cap to sit differently on the wearer's head. Additionally, the tension caused by the new visor's increased width has altered the sizing (which, numerically, has remained unchanged) and overall appearance of what was once a classic standard.

59Fifty

A 59Fifty baseball cap.

59Fifty is a style of cap made by the New Era Cap Company. They are often referred to as "Fitted Hats" by the general public. They have become increasingly fashionable in urban centers and within the hip hop, emo, hardcore, and skater cultures. Many insist on leaving the gold sticker on the top of the hat bill so their "peeps" know it is a real 59Fifty hat. They come in various different sizes that range from 6 5/8  to 8 . The average price is usually around thirty-five dollars. The caps are available for every Major and Minor League Baseball team in an assortment of colors, as well as NHL, AHL, NBA and NCAA fitted hats. The cap is also available with assorted city names and Marvel Comics and DC Comics character designs. 59Fifty caps have also been released in association with other brand names along with many other 59Fifty collections based on Muhammad Ali and other athletes, celebrities. Hats have also been released for charitable causes such as the 2010 release of the skate for cancer 59Fifty hat in which 100% of the proceeds help open the Dream Love Cure Centre.

59Fifty and Major League Baseball

The 59fifty is the official on-field cap for every major and minor league baseball team. In recent years, the 59Fifty caps were made of 100% wool and included a gray under-visor and white sweatband (green under-visor and leather sweatbands were more common in the 1980s and before). In 2007, New Era changed the design of their on-field 59Fifty hats significantly. The hats are now made of 100% "performance polyester". Replacing the gray under-visor is a new black colored under-visor, which was made to help reduce glare. The sweatbands have been changed from white to black, in order to make sweat stains less evident. The visors are also said to have become sturdier and do not bend as easily as the older style.^{[citation needed]}

In 1992, the MLB New Era 59Fifty caps featured an MLB logo on caps for the first time. At first they were on the side of the cap, but then were quickly moved to the back. The New York Yankees were among the last teams in 1993 to wear the 59Fifty caps with the green under-visor. They didn't switch to the gray under-visor until 1994, whereas most teams switched to the gray under-visor during the late 1980s.

Cap styles

Along with the 59Fifty, New Era produces styles like the 49Forty, 39Thirty, 29Twenty, EK, Capture the Flag, and also designs women's and kids' caps.

• The 49Forty is fitted, has a lower profile than the 59Fifty, and has a more casual, collegiate look.

• The 39Thirty is a stretch fit cap, and is used by MLB as the batting practice cap.

• The 29Twenty is an adjustable, unstructured cap.

• The 9FIFTY Snapback is a high crown, structured cap with a snap enclosure on the rear.

• The EK line consists of designed premium hats and caps. The line speaks to the roots of the company's product origins.

• Capture the Flag headwear is designed by celebrities and sold exclusively through boutiques in select cities around the world and only produces 288 of each cap designed.^{[citation needed]}

Company move

On November 21, 2006, New Era moved its headquarters from the Buffalo suburb of Derby to its new, renovated home in the former Federal Reserve Building in downtown Buffalo.

Labor history

New Era has had two labor situations^{[clarification needed]} in its 88-year history. In 2001, with the Communications Workers of America and in 2007/2008 with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Cap recalls

In the summer of 2007, New Era voluntarily pulled three styles of New York Yankee hats from shelves across the country because the designs on the caps were seen to be gang-related. A New Era spokesperson stated that the company does not market to gangs and when notified by activist groups and public officials, the company took immediate action.^[6]

References

1. ^ "Fair Labor Association Annual Report: New Era Cap Company, Inc. Company Profile." Fair Labor Association. 2004.
2. ^ Newman, Mark. "MLB celebrates new official cap." Major League Baseball. 14 March 2007.
3. ^ "About New Era - The History of New Era Cap." New Era. 2008.
4. ^ "New Era Cap Announces Three-Year Licensing Agreement With Korean Baseball Organization". http://www.ecplaza.net/news/09/11338/new_era_cap_announces.html. 
5. ^ Newman, Mark. "MLB celebrates new official cap." Major League Baseball. 14 March 2007.
6. ^ Sandomir, Richard. "Yankee Caps Pulled After Protesters See Gang Links in Symbols and Colors" The New York Times. 25 August 2007

External links

• Official New Era Cap website
• Official New Era Cap pressroom