Rancher Hat Bar is Betting on Year-Round Western Style at The Cosmopolitan

^{Rancher Hat Bar’s new storefront in Las Vegas, a custom hat bar located right next to The Chandelier bar and Marquee Nightclub & Dayclub. How many hats can you spot in one picture? (Photo: Vanessa Alves-Johnson / Casinos.com)}

LAS VEGAS — If you know anything about December in Las Vegas, you’ll know it’s when the holidays come and cowboy hats take over the city. The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) is the highlight of the Strip, Cowboy Christmas floods the convention center with Western fashion, and suddenly even locals put on their boots. But for a Western business inside a casino, the question is whether that momentum can last once the rodeo leaves town.

Rancher Hat Bar thinks the answer is yes, and its grand opening at The Cosmopolitan during NFR Week shows why.

Custom Hat Bar Launches During NFR Week

Rancher Hat Bar officially opened its first Las Vegas location on December 4, perfectly timed with the start of the NFR. The new shop inside The Cosmopolitan gives visitors the chance to customize their own cowboy, rancher, or trucker hat. 

Prices start around $35 and scale up depending on added accessories like rhinestones, ribbons, playing cards, and more. People can even burn letters and words into the hat for added customization. There’s a massive variety of options, so no two hats will come out the same.

In an interview with Casinos.com, founder and CEO Shantelle Girard told us that opening a store in Vegas was always a priority. The brand started as an RV-based pop-up and has expanded into 13 total locations across the U.S. Her team spent two days hustling to set up the storefront, even bringing in employees from other stores in Utah for the big launch.

Shantelle Girard, founder and CEO of Rancher Hat Bar. The Chandelier bar behind her is Rancher's next-door neighbor.

“We love The Cosmopolitan — it’s a trendy hotel, and we’re a trendy brand,” Girard said. “We wanted a spot that felt lively and very Vegas. Somewhere people could come in, get the experience, and take something tangible home with them.”

The shop’s location is also right next to both the Chandelier Bar and the Marquee Nightclub and Dayclub in the hotel, which helps to draw in visitors to the area naturally. It sits one of the highest-traffic paths of the resort with some highlights people often visit for.

Grand Opening Draws Visitors from Neighboring Hotels

The grand opening made it clear that people were invested in the idea of the hat customizing experience. There was a ribbon-cutting, photo op right outside the store, and a steady crowd of visitors in and out of the store. 

Many people had never heard of Rancher Hat Bar before spotting its ads on the LED billboard between Aria and The Cosmopolitan, one of the most notable ones on the Strip.

Deb, a Phoenix resident, told me saw their ad on that billboard she came to see what Rancher all was about when she arrived in town for the NFR. She and her husband purchased their own custom hats, both excited to be "a part of the experience" more than anything. That sentiment was echoed all night as I saw so many passersby popping in simply to see what was going on and make their own hat.

“We have a ton of people here for the NFR. A lot of people come in for this.” said Girard. “We’re a big brand on Instagram, and people have been asking for us to come to Vegas for a long time now.”

Does Western Style Have Vegas Longevity?

Even with the NFR bringing tens of thousands of Western shoppers to Vegas, the real question is how much staying power a shop like this can have once all the cowboys and cowgirls head home. 

But Girard and her team at Rancher are confident about lasting business here.

Their location is next to Marquee, which helps to give them a built-in audience beyond December. Bachelorette groups, dayclub crowds, and even casual visitors can all drop in for a customizable hat experience that they can take home with them when it's time to head back to their hometown.

Rancher COO Kenny Girard explained that the location was intentional. 

“We're gonna get a lot of business in the summer when those bachelorette groups are stopping by before or after the dayclub,” he said. “They like getting the matching cowboy or trucker hats to take home with them.”

The variety of hat offerings also help open up purchasing choices to more types of customers. Cowboy and rancher hats are the core of the brand, but the offering of trucker hats broadens the appeal. I’m not personally someone into Western style, but someone like me can still walk away with a fun trucker hat that I can wear during the summer instead.

Rancher is Betting on the Vegas Experience

Though the idea of custom hats seems like a niche concept, it really matches what people come to Vegas for: the experience. 

It’s the same logic that lets nightclubs justify charging people $750 for bottle service when you could get the same bottle at the grocery store for $20. Tourists across generations like the ability to have interactive moments during their visit, especially something they can flex on social media.

Though you might be able to get a cheaper hat somewhere online, Rancher Hat Bar delivers value and convenience for the price with their in-store experience.

On opening night, I watched someone build a hat that totaled $162 decked out with rhinestones, feathers, and even some playing cards. Almost every person buying a hat had a smile on their face the entire time and all the employees were equally enthusiastic. Rancher is betting on that experience bringing them continued business more than any single trend.

The brand is right to be confident in their success. Western style might boom in Vegas every December, but the experience of building something personalized never really goes out of season here.

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