Wrigleyville Hat Wars: Boutique Owner Accuses Sports Shop Of Selling Knockoffs Of Signature Cap

WRIGLEYVILLE — A Chicago boutique owner is accusing a Wrigleyville sports merchandise store of selling knockoff versions of her company’s signature hat and using photos from her website to market the dupe as their own.

But the owner of the Wrigleyville store, Sports World, said he bought the hat from a vendor and had no idea it was similar to an existing design or that his staff had used another brand’s photos.

Ali Reff, founder and owner of boutique Alice & Wonder, said she started noticing imitations of her company’s “Chicago Puff” snapback hat being sold by street vendors around the city last summer. The hats were being sold near Wrigley Field, Rate Field and the United Center, Reff said.

“We got a recommendation that it was some embroiderer outside the city copying all these hats and selling them to street vendors,” Reff said. “We were driving to flea markets just trying to figure out who was behind it.”

Alice & Wonder hired a lawyer and attempted to send a cease-and-desist order to one vendor, but with no clear trail back to a manufacturer, the effort went nowhere, Reff said.

Alice & Wonder’s “Chicago Puff” snapback hat. Provided/Facebook

Eventually, Reff let it go — until earlier this year, when a customer tipped her off that the same style of hat was being sold at Sports World, a longtime retailer at 3555 N. Clark St., across from Wrigley Field.

Not only was the knockoff on display, Reff said, but Alice & Wonder’s own product and lifestyle photos were being used to advertise it on the store’s website. Reff owns Alice & Wonder shops at 3542 N. Southport Ave. in Lakeview, 956 W. Webster Ave. in Lincoln Park and 611 N. State St. Downtown.

“If you went on their website a week ago, you’d think they were selling our hat,” Reff said.

Sports World’s “Chicago Original Snapback Cap.” Provided/Sports World

Brad Rosen, owner of Sports World, said he was blindsided by the accusation.

“I’m really getting somewhat slandered for buying a hat that I had no idea anybody else was selling,” Rosen said. “A salesman came in, I bought a hat I thought I could sell. I’ve seen this thing at Navy Pier, Wrigleyville, the airports — it’s everywhere. I don’t know why I’m being targeted.”

Reff said she attempted to reach out to Rosen before going public but didn’t get a response. So she took her case to TikTok, where a video she posted detailing the situation quickly gained traction.

“If you’re going to buy new Cubs gear this year, I am begging you, do not buy it from Sports World,” Reff says in the video.

Rosen said he didn’t know the promotional photos Sports World used on its site for the hat were taken from Alice & Wonder’s website until a Block Club reporter told him about Reff’s video.

“My guys used photos the salesman gave us,” he said. “Now I hear they were hers. I apologized to her. I can’t control the internet. If someone gave them bad photos, they changed them right away.”

Shortly after the video was posted, the photos were removed from Sports World’s site, Reff said.

“They also dropped the price $5 after I pointed out in my TikTok that theirs cost more than ours,” she said. “It’s clear someone on their team saw the video, scrubbed the site and made changes.”

Rosen said his business, which has been open since 1980, would never intentionally hurt another small business, especially a local one.

“I would never want to mess with a small business, especially in the neighborhood,” Rosen said. “I bought it from a salesman. They gave us pictures. I can’t vet everything. I’m not the guy who made the hats or manufactured them.”

Rosen said he still doesn’t know who makes the hats that he’s selling at Sports World.

Sports World, 3555 N. Clark St. Credit: Patrick Filbin/Block Club Chicago

For Reff, the most frustrating part hasn’t been the hat itself, but protecting the brand she and her team have worked years to build.

“It’s really disheartening because this was more than a hat for us,” she said. “It was the first time we designed something that really resonated with the community. If you saw someone wearing the hat, you knew where they got it from. And if someone buys a dupe and hates it, that still reflects on us.”

Rosen said his team removed the photos, but the hat is still for sale.

He added that he’s willing to work with Reff — if there are formal protections in place.

“I told her if she has a license, trademark, copyright, patent, anything — I’ll pay royalties,” Rosen said. “But she admitted she doesn’t. I feel I’m being unfairly targeted.”

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