Local support for a regional heritage cap leads to the resurrection of an iconic Upper Midwest brand.
By Jahla Seppanen
Although united as a whole, American culture can differ greatly from region to region. In the case of Stormy Kromer, Michigan-makers famous for the Stormy Kromer Cap, the brand was born, raised and resurrected by its northern-Midwest roots. These roots continue to be a driving force for the brand, as they build on more than 100 years of Made In the USA manufacturing and regional acclaim.
Photo Courtesy of Stormy Kromer
In 2001, Stormy Kromer was on its way to becoming a footnote in Midwestern history. Nearing the century anniversary since the company’s founding in 1903, the company reflected on its slim one-cap, one-color offering and figured it was time to call it quits. Discontinuing the iconic Stormy Kromer six-panel cap would mean the end of a style icon.
Even as early as 1909, the cap—a newly-fashioned baseball style cap with a higher crown, flap-down ears, and a soft cloth visor—sold like wildfire throughout the upper Midwest. Three women in a dilapidated brick building made, by hand, the 1,200-plus caps sold that year. However, between 1930 and 1967, sales of the Original Kromer Cap declined.
Bob Jacquart, who acquired the rights to the Stormy Kromer brand in 2001, with his daughters Kari Jacquart and Gina Jacquart Thorsen.
As fate would have it, the 2001 threat of derailment would make a U-turn when a businessman by the name of Bob Jacquart, who owned a cut and sew operation in Ironwood, MI, acquired the rights to the Stormy Kromer brand upon hearing rumors of its impending closure. Why? Because Jacquart saw the brand and its manufacturing as a regional landmark to Upper Midwest culture.
Stormy Kromer Mercantile remains in Ironwood today. Gina Thorsen, president of Stormy Kromer, said, “Ironwood is over ten hours from Lansing and we get a little forgotten by the rest of the state. As a result, we are independent, free spirits up here.”
President of Stormy Kromer Gina Thorsen
When asked how Stormy apparel managed to embed itself into regional culture, Thorsen said, “Domestic manufacturing has a long heritage in our region, especially with the automotive industry. So our regional culture relates to the working class and this aligns well with Made in the USA brands. When you think of Made in the USA for work you think Carhartt and Wolverine, two strong Michigan brands, and in our region we are included in that conservation.”
Stormy Kromer has also been awarded Kokatat’s American Made Outdoor Gear Award, in 2013. More recently, Stormy was named a finalist by Martha Stewart in her American Made Awards.
Photo Courtesy of Stormy Kromer
The brand has ramped expansion since its acquisition in 2001, with new apparel products, lifestyle lines, design inventions and industry partnerships. “We are in the process of expanding our manufacturing capacity with the addition of a new partner in the greater Detroit area who we expect to have on line in the next three to six months,” said Thorsen.
But however large Stormy becomes, local origins will always lead. Thorsen explained the brand’s styling always reflects on its founders, George “Stormy” and wife Ida Kromer, who invented the first cap based on practical functionality for the outdoors. Kromer invented the first cap after losing his on the locomotive he worked on. After seeing its usability, his friend asked for one, and so it went. And still today, Stormy Kromer is made in the northern Midwest, with operations in Michigan and Wisconsin. Losing the century-plus heritage of local manufacturing would mean losing the spirit of the brand.
The iconic Stormy Kromer Cap
And this spirit is the foothold of the outdoor industry, as we have to ask ourselves why we keep coming back to the small underdogs. Among the reasons, heritage is high on the list. History matters. And more so, remaining true to the virtues of business for the outdoors, as opposed to business for business sake.
“There is a deep feeling of satisfaction when you actually make something and see the pleasure it brings to all those around you,” added Thorsen. “It would be far easier for us to have our caps made overseas, but they would no longer be Stormy Kromer’s.”
