Brimz<\/a> has been matching hats and Torontonians for almost 30 years. They specialize in sourcing hats from all over the world, in order for their customers to find a hat that speaks to them.<\/p>\n\u201cEveryone comes to us for their hats. Everyone [from] Serge Ibaka, we\u2019ve put hats on Lauryn Hill and a number of people over the years,\u201d CEO and President of Brimz, Dameion Royes told Now Toronto. \u201cSo, this spot is a place where people can come and they feel like they\u2019re in a diamond shop, and they take their time and they find the right items that are perfect for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The store is located in the heart of Kensington Market and is lined with hats of every variety. From fedoras to ball caps, there\u2019s something for everyone.<\/p>\n
Royes runs the shop alongside his wife, Yoko. The two are also embroidery specialists, allowing customers to create any kind of what they want, personalizing it, and making it their own.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou create your own universe,\u201d Royes said. \u201cIt\u2019s just like a film. You invite people to that universe, and they always say, if you build it, they will come. We\u2019ve built it, and they\u2019ve come.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that with the shopping experience, customers are able to find a hat for any occasion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re looking for something special. It\u2019s not the run of the mill,\u201d Royes added. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like finding your specialised butcher or having your unique tailor. We give them that kind of feel and flavour. When they come in here, they can take their time, find the right things, and we\u2019ll help them pair something to the events that are in their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Out of their 30 years in business, Brimz has only been in Kensington for the past seven years. The store also moved around the city, with it at one point being on Queen Street and even having multiple locations.<\/p>\n
Over the years, the boutique has garnered community from all over the Greater Toronto Area, helping residents be united with their perfect hat.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a lot of die hard fans that really love us,\u201d Royes said. \u201cYou have people that look out for you, people that promote you, people that help you, people that feed you\u2026 You want to be a part of that community and contribute to it. So, it is a blessing to be in Kensington.\u201d<\/p>\n
The store has even catered to celebrities and entire sports teams in the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year, in 2025 we were approached by the [Toronto] Maple Leafs, and they wanted us to produce a very special hat for the first Black player in the [NHL], who was Willie Oree. They wanted to commemorate his 90th birthday, so they had us commission and create a very special, customised fedora hat, which we call the Don Corleone,\u201d Royes said.<\/p>\n
Royes said that being accessible to new customers through CBCC\u2019s Black Business Direct was very important, and played a part in gaining those kinds of opportunities.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause it\u2019s a place where you can find like minded businesses, especially businesses of colour and for BIPOC people, it\u2019s very important that we have a source and a resource that people can go to to find us. It\u2019s kind of like our yellow pages and without it, you\u2019re missing in action.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added people want to spend mindfully, and a directory like CBCC\u2019s helps with that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people are looking to spend their dollars consciously, there we are,\u201d Royes said. \u201cThey can find us there and so, for a service like that, you can\u2019t do without it. It\u2019s so incredibly important for us to be associated.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What to know The Canadian Black Chamber of Commerce\u2019s Black Business Direct, presented by Uber Canada, is helping…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":490561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[197138,116980,197139,49,48,197140,3302],"class_list":["post-490560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-black-business-direct","tag-black-owned","tag-brimz-hat-boutique","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-black-chamber-of-commerce","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}