Manifest Destiny for Needham hat maker
Hats have overtaken the Goldberg home. Fedoras hang from hooks, caps and berets are piled in loose stacks, and cowboy hats perch on tables and line benches.
"This is the corporate headquarters," said Steve Goldberg, a Brewster Drive resident and owner of TLS International. "This is where the magic happens."
A 25-year veteran of the hat industry, Goldberg decided to start his own hat company from his home office in 2002. He now works with factories in China, Italy and Brazil and sells his headwear to "hundreds" of specialty stores across the country.
But Goldberg sells few of his hats around New England. In fact, he said, Boston doesn't offer a single hat store.
"We love living here," he said. "But I have to say, this is our worst market."
So Goldberg is looking west. Wild west, in fact.
He recently launched Estouro, a line of western-style hats marketed to a cowboy demographic Goldberg admits he knows little about. He has even sponsored a Brazilian bull rider named Paulo Crimber, who wears the Estouro loge every time he enters the ring.
A born-and-bred New Englander, Goldburg now finds himself hopping from trade show to rodeo as he hawks the new hats. He has spent the last week traveling from California to St. Louis; Memphis, Tenn.; Las Vegas and Minneapolis.
"I never saw so many hats in all my life," Goldberg recalls of one his recent trips out west. "I was like a kid in a candy store."
When he's not traveling, he's keeping an eye on his prized bullfighter.
"To see these bull riders, it's amazing they don't get hurt in any way," said Lois Goldberg, Goldberg's wife and CEO. The couple recently watched as Crimber was kicked in the stomach by a flailing bull. The blow, fortunately, glanced off the bull rider's massive belt buckle.
The Goldbergs bet on a good bull rider. Crimber is currently ranked fourth in Professional Bull Riding's "Built Ford Tough" Series. The series will take him to North Carolina this weekend, Feb.3 and 4.
A hat salesman for life
A former investment banker, Stephen Goldberg left Wall Street to hawk luggage and leather goods as a manufacturer's representative. In 1978, he was hired by the legendary Stetson hat company and began a long career peddling hats across New England and New York.
But Goldberg eventually became dissatisfied with the way things were going at Stetson and, in 2002, decided to go into business for himself.
Goldberg started out operating under the name TLS International, taken from the initials of his family members' first names, but his dealers urged him to build a brand under a more fetching name: Stefano.
The brand - sold under the tagline "Headwear with an attitude" - now includes everything from berets to caps and fedoras.
"From soup to nuts, we run the gamut," he said.