Western & English Today

EARLYSPR 2014

W&E; Today provides retailers and manufacturers with education and ideas that provoke innovation in the Western and English markets.

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Western & English Today 23 EARLY SPRING 2014 than anyone can believe. All signs indicate that this is going to be another great year." Which doesn't mean that nothing has changed. For one thing, many boot manufacturers are addressing consumer demands for more moderate price points, especially in the core market. Cinch Boots has expanded its price-point of erings in Cinch and Cinch Edge by lowering its retail starting point from $275 to $199. "In this category, $129-$189 has tons of volume, but in traditional Western, if you can capture $199-$249, that's a big volume pocket," says Miller International vice president Bobby Smith, who oversees the bootmaking operations for Cinch, Johnny Ringo and Rod Patrick. "Two years ago, the big-volume price point was probably around $300," Hensley says, "but now that has become $250, which makes our Laredo brand more important than ever." Nocona Boots has a more af ordable boot, featuring rubber outsoles and laser inlays, in its Competitor line. Stetson is trying to hit the $225 price point. "It's catching a whole new customer," says Kerry Vastine, vice president operations at Karman, which manufactures Stetson and Roper. T at also has boosted Roper's "faux" line of new prints. "It's a handmade boot out of Mexico, with the same exact quality," Vastine says. "It's just a print, but it's really hard to tell the dif erence. "T e faux stuf continues to work well for us as a price-point- driven business. It's getting the person across the street, the person who doesn't usually wear cowboy boots, without him having to invest a lot of money." Which is why Corral Boots introduced its Circle G line a few years ago, and why this year that economy line has expanded. "It's hitting a need for a boot in that price point," Corral owner Othell Welch says. "But at this point, it's kind of hard to zero in on exactly what the direction is because it's so across the board." Because there's a boot for everyone, remember? T at's why Tony Lama is coming out with a new "A" toe (think French recessed dress toe), with a hand-tooled pattern at the top and Nile crocodile foot. "It's very, very sleek, very detailed, and is the highest price point in our line at $2,600," says Monica McCall, promotions and PR coordinator for Justin Brands. "It's for the businessman who wants a very nice clean boot." It's why Black Jack Boots and Rios of Mercedes, both specializing in stylish upper-end boots, have introduced boots made of pirarucu, an Amazon predator f sh that produces an exotic skin that is sof and stunning. "Every year, our sales in exotics increase," says Black Jack sales representative Sergio A. Guerra. "T ree years ago, we were up 30 percent. Last year, we were up 74 percent." It's why Lucchese has come out with 15 to 20 "new, edgy designs in a lot of new styles, new materials" for men and women, marketing director Mario Vega says. CINCH STETSON CINCH EDGE ROD PATRICK RIOS OF MERCEDES BLACK JACK TONY LAMA TONY LAMA ABOVE: From left to right: Ladies' Queenism from Cinch Edge Boots; men's wide square toe with red shaft by Stetson Boots; men's full quill ostrich in tobacco by Rod Patrick Bootmaker; men's San Saba Series Maverick Toro in treebark by Tony Lama; men's Signature Series Nile crocodile in brandy by Tony Lama; ladies' Mad Dog in cognac by Cinch Boots and men's buckaroo by Rios of Mercedes Boots. INSET : Men's burnished crocodile with handtooled shaft by Black Jack Boots. 0314 Western Boots2.indd 23 2/21/14 11:48 AM

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