Hats off to a new Bluffton business: local entrepreneur opens a custom shop for hat lovers

Fedoras or wide brims? Straw or wool? Pink or black? Beads or satin detailing? However you wear it, the first ever Bluffton luxury hat business will have you covered.

Brims on the Bluff, a creation by Bluffton resident Lauren Dembeck, officially opened its doors Tuesday morning to the public. The business, located at 10C Johnston Way off of Bluffton Road, offers a personalized hat-making experience for individual hat lovers, group socials, wedding parties and corporate teams.

The bar offers 16 different hat styles that come in a variety of sizes, brim widths and colors. From their best-selling Osprey, an 100% Australian wool hat that comes in teal, ivory and black, to the Dove, the most popular straw hat that comes in light beige. There are also plenty of ways to customize your hat, with unique accessories, trims and branding options. Plus, there are in-house stylists (hatters) to help customers select and shape their hats.

One-on-one appointments are available from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays and 11 a.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. There’s a $50 fee at the time of booking but it is refundable if a cancellation is made 24 hours prior to the appointment.

Private events at the store, which require eight or more people, range in price, but require a $150 deposit. For a 90-minute group session, the starting price is $175 per person. Hat burning events, which involves using a hot pen to create designs across the brim, and hat painting events start at $225 per person. Each of these deposits will be put toward the “custom experience.”

Dembeck, the store’s founder and president of M2M Brands in Bluffton, previously worked in the hospitality industry as a sales manager for the Starwood Hotels on Hilton Head. Her husband, Joe Dembeck, is a fire captain in Bluffton. Their daughter, Piper, 4, was the inspiration behind the concept.

“Not everyone is a hat person, but every hat tells a story. We look forward to welcoming both locals and visitors through our doors,” said Dembeck Tuesday. Brims on the Bluff plans on partnering with local non-profits each quarter to give back to the community, she said. Right now, a percentage of each ‘Sweetgrass Hat’ sold will be donated to the Bluffton Gullah Cultural Heritage Center.