Austin-based bootmaker Tecovas opens first Houston store in Rice Village.
Creator puts outpost of brand boasting high quality, affordability in Rice Village
Paul Hedrick was contemplating life when he looked down at his cowboy boots. Then it hit him.
The Houston-born, Dallas-raised Austin transplant knew the ins and outs of building a brand from his job in the consumer-products industry, but he wanted to make something of his own.
A Western-wear boot company seemed like a natural fit.
So in 2014, Hedrick started Tecovas fine bootmakers, selling highquality but affordable cowboy boots online directly to consumers. The company has been dubbed the “Warby Parker of cowboy boots,” a comparison to the cult eyewear brand with low-cost chic frames that also started online.
“The minute I looked down at my feet, I realized I know something about this industry and can create something that’s missing,” said Hedrick, who moved back to Texas from the Northeast to start his company. “I wanted comfort, quality, approachability in terms of design, and in terms of price, I wanted it to be easily purchasable online, anywhere.”
Tecovas, which opened its first store in Austin in March, now has a Houston outpost in
Rice Village, which opened on Black Friday. The company is named for the Tecovas rock formations in the Palo Duro Cayon in West Texas.
Tecovas boots average $300, which is significantly less than traditional bootmakers charge. The brand’s most popular boots sell for $235. Other Texas brands, such as the San Antonio-based Lucchese and El Paso’s Stallion Boots and Rocketbuster Boots, run higher. The popular Tony Llama, which is moderately priced, is also manufactured in El Paso. Tecovas are made by hand in León, Mexico.
The cowboy-boot business has changed significantly in the past decade as more customers turn to online shopping looking for affordable quality. Having a storefront now allows customers to “see us in person and not just in a TV ad or a Facebook ad or an email from their friends they forwarded,” Hedrick said.
Western boots are as much a part of the American fashion landscape as blue jeans and sneakers and are frequently showcased on the runway.
In September, fashion designer Prabal Gurung partnered with Dallas bootmaker Miron Crosby to create a line of cowboy boots for his New York Fashion Week show.
The U.S Western boot market is steadily growing and expected to reach $20 billion by 2025, according to MarketWatch. Cavender’s, the biggest boot seller in Texas, continues to open stores each year.
The Western-wear trend has been big this year.
“There are more people this year wearing cowboy boots who might never have considered wearing them before,” Hedrick said. It helps that celebrities, such as Lyle Lovett and Kam Franklin, are often photographed wearing them.
Tecovas recently raised $30 million in Series A funding led by Elephant, a venture capital firm started in part by Warby Parker cofounder Andy Hunt.
Hedrick credits the brand’s affordability and comfort, adding that he wanted to create a boot that was comfortable from the start.
“One of the things that is a little intimidating about super-fancy, shiny boots with all these crazy inlays and these toughlooking, exotic alligator or goatskin leather is that you put them on, and it feels like you have got to wear them for a year before they break in,” he said.
“I remember being in Mexico with one of our first factory partners, and I was like, ‘I don’t get it. Why does everyone else make them uncomfortable?’ They were like, ‘We don’t get it either.’ ”
Aside from wearing flip-flops to the beach and sneakers to the gym, Hedrick said he’s always in Tecovas boots, belts and jeans. Cowboy hats may be something he’ll add down the road.
“We’re big believers in first things first, and doing it right, not fast,” he said.