Not being American nor British, I had never heard the word 'Haberdashery' used before watching The Hateful Eight. Now, Haberdashery is a Haberdasher's store, and a Haberdasher is according to dictionary.com:
- a retail dealer in men's furnishings, as shirts, ties, gloves, socks, and hats.
- Chiefly British. a dealer in small wares and notions.
... but it seems like the haberdashery is more of a travelers' lodge than a goods retail establishment. Why is the Haberdashery called that, then?
In British English, a Haberdasher sold cloth, as well as lots of little 'odds and ends' - the 'notions' named for those items which you might forget or not be able to get elsewhere. This often included miscellaneous goods - needles, thread, buttons, glue, blotting paper etc, and haberdasheries entered a grey area as something between a tailor and a hardware store.
In the remote location where the movie was set, the Minnie's is going to be your only chance to buy any oddments you might have forgotten for your journey - something like a general store or a highway service station shop - no one is doing their weekly grocery shop there, but might pick up some odds and ends in passing.
It was probably referred to as a Haberdashery as somewhere to pick up miscellaneous items - but not a grocery or wholesaler. Given it's isolation, and Minnie's nose for business it's inevitable it would provide other items for passing trade - hot food, coffee, booze, candy etc like a service station.
It is called Minnie's Haberdashery ironically. As a joke because of the fact no hats are allowed to be worn inside. This is demonstrated by Sheriff Chris Mannic, the character played by Walton Goggins, when he finally enters the structure from the blizzard and says to himself as he removes his snow-covered hat: "I get it, Haberdashery. It was a joke."
The name Minnie’s Haberdashery is a joke, as pointed out by Chris Mannix. Though it is named a haberdashery, as in a hat store, one of Minnie’s rules for her establishment is a ban on wearing hats indoors. Hence, the joke.
