BOOTS ON THE GROUND

With a little help from Taylor Swift and Cowboy Carter, Tecovas became a cultural touchstone this year. Behind its success is a loyal fan base cultivated by the best customer service around.

- REBECCA DECZYNSKI

WEST WORLD Tecovas CEO David Lafitte (far left) with founder Paul Hedrick at the cowboy boot brand's Austin headquarters.

On a Thursday morning in June at the Tecovas store just steps away from Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium, a steady stream of customers peruse the many pairs of cowboy boots on display. I’m sitting on a leather armchair trying on a burgundy pair when I ask Eli, the store associate assisting me, how many pairs of Tecovas he owns. He says 11 or 12. (Over email later, he corrects himself: He has 14, and his fiancée has six.)

Considering the variety here, that answer isn’t so shocking. In the men’s section alone, there are four different toe shapes, eight styles of boots (plus three loafers), and at least nine material options. These are quality boots, with most prices above $300. Last year, Tecovas had over $250 million in sales; this year, it’s set to pass $300 million.

This was always the plan for founder Paul Hedrick. He was just 26 when he quit his six-figure job as a management consultant to sell boots from the back of his SUV, dreaming of competing with industry giants such as Ariat and Lucchese. His story almost sounds like something out of a Hallmark movie: A Harvard-educated Texan who spends his early 20s at McKinsey and L Catterton leaves the corporate world and returns to the Lone Star State to start a cowboy boot company.

Now a decade into business, Tecovas has raised nearly $90 million in funding from investors such as Elephant and Access Capital. It’s been profitable since 2021. “I probably wouldn’t have gotten into it if I didn’t think there was a big opportunity to make a difference and—let’s be clear—build a big business,” says Hedrick.