Peter Forson Hat Shop in Great Western Arcade counts Neighbours, footballer and music stars among its clients. As it marks a decade in Birmingham city centre, we take a closer look at the unique store and the welcome effect of Peaky Blinders.
Wander down Birmingham’s historic Great Western Arcade and you’ll come across an independent boutique overflowing with charm.
Entering Peter Forson Hat Shop is like being transported into another world. A real-life version of retro TV show Mr Benn, but appearing as if my magic to provide a wonderful personalised service is its friendly owner Daisy Nyamie.
That’s part of the reason this independent has been going so long – 10 years this year. Among its many customers have been celebrities from Anthony Engelman, who plays Stonefish in Neighbours, to former Aston Villa footballer Andy Carroll.
Touring country music stars have even been drawn to the shop that sells Stetsons, Fedoras, top hats, baseball caps and the most popular of all – Peaky Blinders’ style Baker Boy hats.
When performing in the city, Chase Rice and Gavin De Graw have popped in to buy hats. De Graw, who sang the theme tune to TV series One Tree Hill, even gave Daisy tickets to his concert at Birmingham Institute when he bought a Baker Boy hat from her two years ago.
Owner Daisy said that Steven Knight’s drama Peaky Blinders has boosted interest in her store and the Baker Boy hats immensely in recent years, but she also puts her longevity down to sourcing quality products and providing personal advice to customers.
“I get a lot of Americans coming in to buy hats and some of that is off the back of Peaky Blinders as they are big fans of the show,” said Daisy. “Peaky Blinders has been great for business, if it wasn’t for that show, I might have closed down a long time ago.
“I love it as it’s done wonders for me. I’ve got a lot more hats here than just the Baker Boy hats and meet really interesting people.
“When footballer Andy Carroll came in a few years ago, he bought a Stetson Dochert and said to me ‘Ian Wright is going to go crazy for this’.
“I’ve even sold a hat to the voice actor David Sobolov who did a voice in The Transformers. He had a voice so deep, that I mentioned how amazing it was and he said ‘Well it makes me money as I do the voice of the robots’.”
Canadian voice actor Sobolov, who also did the voices for Gorilla Grodd in DC media shows and Drax the Destroyer in various Marvel media, appeared at the TF Nation 2023 conference wearing the Fedora he bought from Daisy.
Find Peter Forson Hat Shop at 17 Great Western Arcade, Birmingham city centre, B2 5HU. It is open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm.