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About New Era

THE HISTORY OF NEW ERA CAP

Migrating to the United States from Germany in the late 1800s, Ehrhardt Koch and his family settled in an established German neighborhood on Buffalo's East side.

Ehrhardt began working in headwear manufacturing in 1902, at 16 years old. His first job was with Miller Brother's Cap Company, where he mastered many different aspects of the craft during his 18 year tenure. After years of failed attempts at further advancement and responsibility at Miller, Ehrhardt decided that to get to the top he would have to start at the top, so he decided to launch his own headwear company.

With a $5,000 loan from his aunt and 14 employees, Ehrhardt founded the New Era Cap Company on Genesee Street in Buffalo. Focusing on making high-quality men's fashion headwear, New Era entered the market with the in-vogue, eight-panel Pacer-style cap known as the "Gatsby."

Wanting his son, Harold, to be involved in and appreciate the family business, Ehrhardt had him join the team. Harold started at the bottom, and worked his way up. Ehrhardt spent a lot of time teaching Harold every aspect of the New Era business, always driving home his belief that a superiorly produced, quality cap was the most important part of making the New Era customer happy; it would always keep the customer coming back for more.

Ehrhardt's teaching paid off. Harold became the second generation Koch to run New Era. Like his father, Harold was a visionary and ahead of his time. His creative insights led to many enhancements in cap manufacturing. He was a stickler for efficiency and developed piecework rates that allowed a sewing operator to produce the highest quality caps.

An innovator in his own right, Harold developed and marketed the "no roll stitch" now known as the "Top Stitch" which is a decorative stitch that functions to hold the sweatband even with the bottom of the cap as well as keeping the cap smooth and flat for comfort and appearance. He also introduced the cotton cloth sweatband, which became the industry standard in all baseball caps. The addition of the cotton cloth was widely accepted as it was a far better option than the leather sweatbands that were standard in all headwear at that time. Harold decided that the cotton sweatband would be stitched in such a way that a bead of cloth would hang down a bit on the forehead.

Later, he added a thin, clear plastic covering on the under-side of the sweatband to prevent perspiration from soaking through the material on the outer face of the cap. Many of the nuances Harold built into New Era's headwear were subtle, but the impact of his ideas were immense and helped to keep New Era ahead of the competition.

As fashion evolved, so did New Era, and in the 1930s, the Company began making caps appropriate for America's favorite, and timeless, pastime - baseball.

It was then that the 59Fifty fitted cap was born. The 59Fifty was, and still is today, the absolute leader in fit, fashion and function. It started out as a movement and set the standards for all other caps to follow.

In 1982, Harold Koch passed away and under his son David's sole direction, New Era began to branch out, becoming a significant player in the headwear industry. David's goal was to consistently sell all Major and Minor League baseball clubs, making New Era an authentic name in the sports industry.

In the 80s, baseball fans became interested in wearing the identical cap worn by their favorite players on the field - the New Era 59Fifty. The trend caught fire and became a huge business that has grown exponentially for New Era. New Era's 59Fifty quickly became the American sports fan's favorite fitted cap.

New Era's reputation was built upon the foundation of its 59Fifty cap. So much so, that after more than 70 years, the relationship between New Era and Major League Baseball (MLB) grew from supplying a few teams with caps to becoming the exclusive manufacturer and marketer of the official on-field cap worn by every MLB team and their Minor League affiliates.

Christopher, Ehrhardt Koch's great-grandson, was appointed president of New Era in 1992 and David took the position of CEO. In 1996, under Chris's direction, the company developed and launched a new corporate identity and embarked on the brand-building journey that is still in place today.

The passing of David Koch, in December 2002, was a sad time in New Era's history. But looking to the future, Chris Koch became the CEO of New Era Cap with great shoes to fill. Chris instituted his vision of making New Era the global leader in branded headwear, providing licensed and non-licensed products under brand names that are recognized and command a premium in the market.

New Era expanded its corporate presence into Europe in June 2003, after a long standing distribution presence and an increasing demand for New Era's quality licensed headwear in the region.

Today, New Era headwear caters to many core markets including Action Sports, Children, Women, Corporate, Fan, Performance, Suburban and Fashion/Lifestyle enabling the Company to meet the demand of the most unique individuals each expressing their own style. Whether carrying the markings of its many licenses like MLB to NBA to NHL, or sporting a one-of-a-kind design on its most classic fitted, the reach of New Era's headwear is endless, from coast-to-coast and around the world.

A privately held, family-owned business starting out in a small shop in Buffalo, NY, is, today, the global headwear brand of choice. Even with his unwavering determination, relentless persistence and overwhelming passion, we're not sure even Ehrhardt Koch could have imagined that his dream would have turned into the global home run it is today!

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