There’s a significant new competitor in the team cap game and it has a lot of funding and name recognition behind it. Earlier this month headwear retailer Lids unveiled its newest retail concept, Lids Hat Drop, with the first store located in Jamaica, Queens, NY. The concept is described as “the brick-and-mortar iteration of Lids’ successful LidsHatDrop.com platform that launched earlier this year.”

The Lids Hat Drop store will operate similarly to its e-commerce counterpart, offering exclusive and limited-edition releases, including athlete and celebrity collaborations, while also working with designers and influencers to build new collections. Consumers at the Lids Hat Drop store will have first access to purchase exclusive hat drops beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET each Friday, before the collection then becomes available on the e-commerce platform at 12:00 p.m. that same day.

“After visiting Jamaica, Queens in 2021, it was clear that the location was ideal for our first brick-and-mortar Lids Hat Drop,” explains Britten Maughan, president of Lids. “The area is known by headwear enthusiasts as the hat mecca of the U.S., so the location allows Lids to lean into hat culture while continuing to drive trends through our exclusive releases. We’ve seen huge success with LidsHatDrop.com but Lids is a brick & mortar retailer at its core, and this concept is yet another step in our strategy to lead the conversation and become even more engrained in the hat community.”

The releases include “Queens Store Exclusives” only available in the location. In addition to headwear, the store will include Mitchell & Ness MLB and NBA Jerseys, Ebbets Field Flannels (EFF) products and other apparel offerings. Local New York artist, Timothy Goodman, was commissioned to create the mural featured in the store. The location will include Lids’ Custom Zones, which allow consumers the opportunity to custom-embroider a product of their choice in-store.

Lids currently operates more than 1500 stores throughout North America, Europe, and Australia.

Lids Hat Drop is the latest concept to debut from Lids as the retailer continues to expand its brick-and-mortar footprint. In July, Lids unveiled its collegiate product focused retail concept, Lids University (Lids U) and unveiled its largest concept store to date in Las Vegas in October. Lids operates several concept stores including Locker Room by Lids and team-specific stores such as Yankees Clubhouse and Dodgers Clubhouse.