By Kathy Chouteau
A visit to Golden Gate Western Wear in Richmond starts with a “howdy” from a golden horse outside its entrance, accompanied by a cowboy who offers a hint of the treasures inside.
The horse—on wheels that enable him to be transported in-and-out every day—is a remnant of the businesses’ now-closed sister store in San Francisco. His cowboy friend hollers to visitors that this is the spot to strike gold on Western wear like cowboy hats, boots, rugged shirts, pants and more.
On a recent visit, the Standard was checking out the store’s cowboy hats when Bill Knudsen, the resident hatter and owner, ambled over to say hello. Knudsen shared that he makes hats that sell to a global customer base, including replicas of famous cowboy hats like Rayan Givens’ (actor Timothy Olyphant) cowboy hat from FX’s TV series “Justified”—the store’s best seller.
Other customer favorites include a replica of Clint Eastwood’s cowboy hat in the 1966 film “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” which is a popular seller and also Knudsen’s personal favorite that he wears the most. He also showed off the store’s second bestseller, another replica worn by Adam Savage as co-host of the Discovery Channel TV show “MythBusters,” while he jumped off of buildings, splashed around in the water and the like. “He put it to the test,” said Knudsen.
And of course, other popular choices are the replica of Steve McQueen’s cowboy hat from the 1960 film “The Magnificent Seven,” right down to the stains, as well as ones from the TV series “Yellowstone.”
“That’s what we do,” said Knudsen about adding stains to the McQueen replica, “We make ‘em look just like in the movies.”
Knudsen said he hand-makes many of the cowboy hats, and sometimes uses blocks. The El Sobrante resident grew up in the Oakland Hills going to “Skyline stables,” however, it was his visits to Lake Tahoe that made his penchant for Western life take hold.
Located on the site of a previous Western store built in 1947, Golden Gate Western Wear has operated on San Pablo Avenue in Richmond for almost 25 years, according to the owner. They still have the original old growth Douglas Fir floors from the preceding store, as well as other details like three posts with a steel ring outside for tying up your horse.
Aside from the Richmond location and now-closed San Francisco store that operated for 50 years, the Western outfitter also operated stores in Oakland and Pleasant Hill that also shut down.
Golden Gate Western Wear goes beyond styles for a cowboy or girl’s crown with other options such as work wear like shirts and pants—in a recently expanded section—and boots, saddles, bags/purses and the like for all ages. Brands such as Pendleton, Ben Davis and Wrangler could be spotted, as well as Carhartt—a particular jacket of which is still enjoying popularity following Ben Affleck’s turn in the films “The Town” and “The Accountant.”
“Our cowboy culture is appreciated and popular all around the world,” said Knudsen.
The store is located at 12153 San Pablo Ave. in Richmond. Questions? Click here or call (510) 232-3644.
