After 50 years on Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley Hat Company is closing its doors. 

Owner Carol Lipnick said the decision to close had been on her mind since her husband’s passing in 2017 and the loss of her longtime manager three years ago. Now, she hopes to spend more time with her four grandchildren and travel the world. 

“It’s been a long time and I wanted to move on and do some other adventures,” Lipnick said. “I’m going to see what else there is out there for me. I’ll find the things I’m interested in, and it’ll be fun.”

Lipnick began selling handcrafted Panama hats with her late husband in the 1970s at street fairs and music festivals before they opened their own shop in 1980. 

For Lipnick, the store has been more than a business — it has been her life. She said Berkeley Hat Company has sold everything from Irish caps and Kentucky Derby hats to novelty and Halloween hats. 

Lipnick recalled “special moments” from the past few decades, such as making 600 Panama hats for a Princeton University reunion and being the only East Bay outlet selling Burning Man tickets. 

The shop is particularly significant for UC Berkeley’s marching band, Cal Band, which has relied on Berkeley Hat Company for years. Jia Jun Luo, who served as the band’s librarian in 2024, said the band has ordered straw hats from the shop for a long time for part of the band’s uniform. 

“It’s tradition,” Luo said. “I think it’s in one of the guides I saw: ‘We get hats from Berkeley Hat Company.’”

Luo said working with the shop was straightforward and efficient. After confirming the number of hats over the phone with Lipnick, the band received their order in about two weeks.

With the store’s closure, Luo said his first reaction was concern. 

“I was worried the Cal Band would have a harder time trying to acquire the straw hats because Berkeley Hat Company is reliable for getting hats,” he said. “That would be a new challenge for them.”

Many patrons have recently stopped by to say goodbye to Lipnick. While they are sad to see her leave, they’re also happy for her journey ahead.

The retirement sale, which began Dec. 13 and will run through Jan. 31, offers discounts on the shop’s inventory. Lipnick invites the community to stop by and pick up a hat before the store closes. 

 

“It’s a really good feeling when you walk down the street (and) you see people… and they point to (the store), (saying) ‘Get some of the hats,’” Lipnick said.