Sacred Feather

I used to visit Madison regularly and would inevitably end up here. Loved the place and the wonderful variety of hats… the accessories…
I was so excited to find the store was still around. It had the same look, the same variety. But I was soon disappointed. I found a great hat at a fair price. I waited in line a long time to check out because the credit card of the customer before me was declined… or perhaps the machine wasn’t working.
My turn. The guy who worked there punched buttons on that machine for days it seemed. He wrote up the sale on an old fashioned carbon paper receipt too. And what do you know? My credit card didn’t work either.
What was he doing when he pressed all of those buttons on that machine?
And his reaction to me, the 2^nd customer in a row whose card supposedly didn’t work? No, it wasn’t: «Hmmm. Maybe the machine is broken.» Nope. It was, «Do you have a different card? Or you could get some cash.»
Really? Uh uh. No sale for you today. And if there’s any fraud going on with my card… That will be an easy problem to solve.

I tried to do my best and support the local economy and a small business.
I wanted a new winter hat for the upcoming season, and I wanted a Tilley. I emailed ahead of time, asked about a specific hat, and even included a link directly to the Tilley site asking «Do you have this hat». Store emailed back yes.
Walked to the store on my lunchbreak. In fact no, they do not have that hat. Strike 1.
Owner said he could order it for me and it would get there in a few days. Measured my head. Got a different Tilley hat to try on and check the size. I thought it was a bit tight. Asked for the next bigger. He said he wouldn’t order that size for me, because if I didn’t like it, he would be stuck with a big hat. Would order the smaller one but I didn’t have to take it if I didn’t want it. Strike 2.
Ordered hat. Later got a call from owner saying «Tried to order, Tilley doesn’t make that hat anymore». That surprised me, because I had just sent him a link from their site for that hat. Ordered the hat directly from Tilley, no issues. Strike 3, you’re out.
Next time I guess I’ll skip the trouble and walk, and just order online.
Other than that, if you are a hat person, and already on state street, its worth a stroll in, but I’m not going out of my way anymore for them.

I never was much of a hat wearer but I’ve purchased two hats here in one year. Having had too much sun exposure in my youth, I’ve needed more sun protection to ward off the Consequences. During a short visit last summer I needed head covering right away and found the perfect ‘Gilligan” fishing hat that saved the day, Recently, as the weather cooled and my straw ‘plantation’ hats would no longer suffice. My son picked out a nice felt Indy Jones number and it’s working out just fine.
The selection, the price range, the service. All Great!

I think this is the best hat store in the world! Well, at the very least it is the best hat store I’ve ever been to. I loved the selection and I was very lucky to find the perfect hat waiting right there for me. The prices are very reasonable. The selection is great. The employees are friendly. Really, the best!

Sacred Feather is an amazing store — the kind you’re always holding your breath as you approach, because such gems seem to suffer more than their share of premature closings. But apparently this place has been around for over 30 years, and with good reason! Housed in a neat little gingerbread-​y building on Madison’s busiest shopping thoroughfare, State Street, Sacred Feather has quite an impressive selection of hats, but don’t go expecting to find tons of baseball caps and knitted beanies (though they do have a few of the latter); their inventory runs