SAN ANTONIO – While asking viewers what they wanted me to cover along Broadway, one question came up: What’s the oldest business on the corridor?
That question led me to Paris Hatters — a downtown hat shop that has been part of San Antonio since 1917.
Owner Abe Cortez said the business was started by his father when he was just 16 years old. More than a century later, the family is still selling hats from Broadway.
“During the Depression, all the ’30s, the ‘40s, the ‘50s, the ‘60s, and here we are today,” Cortez said.
Walking through the shop feels like stepping into San Antonio’s history. Photos line the walls featuring celebrities and public figures who have stopped by over the decades, including John Wayne, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, ZZ Top, Deion Sanders and even Pope John Paul II.
The store has survived massive changes along Broadway, from redevelopment to rising costs and ongoing construction that continue to reshape the corridor.
When asked how Paris Hatters has managed to stay open while other longtime businesses have disappeared, Cortez pointed to one thing: consistency.
“We treat people like they should,” Cortez said. “They come in, they want a hat — we got any hat they want.”
The family originally operated the business near Market and Alamo before relocating to its current Broadway location decades ago, after the city purchased the original building during Hemisfair development.
Today, four generations later, Cortez’s daughter and young grandson still spend time inside the store — something Cortez said reminds him of growing up in the business himself.
As Broadway rapidly changes around it, Paris Hatters remains one of the corridor’s oldest surviving businesses, and a reminder of the generations of San Antonio history still standing along the street.
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