As Western wear booms, one Fremont Street shop shows off old-school bootmaking

The sounds of Fremont Street — blaring music, ringing slot machines and street performers vying for attention — fade behind the meticulous construction of a cowboy boot, marked by the rhythmic tap of a cobbler’s hammer, the whir of sewing machines and the scrape of leather.

Inside a store in the Neonopolis shopping center, Javier Martell, owner of cowboy boot and leather goods store Old Country Boots, is preserving a centuries-old craft that has been pushed to the margins by mass production.

“The construction of our boots is the same way they were constructed in the 1800s,” Martell said. “We don’t use heavy machinery.”

Martell and the store’s five employees are among the few remaining artisans in the U.S. producing cowboy boots using many of the same traditional methods in the heyday of the American cowboy.

Old Country Boots is hoping to bring its classic boots to today’s Las Vegas visitors. The store recently expanded its business strategy from making only custom boots to including a standard-size inventory. It moved from a shopping center at Eastern Avenue and Sunset Road to Neonopolis two months ago, tripling its footprint and attracting walk-ins from the Fremont Street Experience.

Sticking to quality leather

Every pair is handcrafted and built using materials chosen for durability rather than mass-market efficiency.

“We have a lifetime construction warranty because we know that our boots are very strong,” said Martell, who owns the store and neighboring tattoo shop with his wife, Amy. “You can ride bulls in our boots and nothing’s going to happen to them.”

Old Country Boots works with leather extracted from 29 different animal species to compose their mainstay cowboy boots, with a single pair beginning at $3,200.

Martell said he makes it a point to acquire his products solely from American companies, and primarily buys from Larson Leather Company, Panhandle Leather Company and Weaver Leather Supply.

“We believe in supporting U.S. businesses,” he said. “It’s very important to me because U.S. businesses have to comply with wildlife laws. All leather has to be ethically sourced. I’m not trying to buy from a poacher.”

Unlike Old Country Boots, many mass-market cowboy boot brands source materials and manufacture boots through global supply chains, often producing them in countries with lower labor costs.

That approach strays from traditional bootmaking, which Martell considers just as important as producing high-quality products.

“This is an American craft, as well as Mexican,” Martell said. “Both cultures go hand-in-hand. I’m proud of being American and of Mexican heritage. One thing I want is people to experience good cowboy boots. I hope the newer generations pick it up because it should be carried on.”

Humble beginnings

The craft is one that Martell is also carrying on for his family. His grandfather was a bootmaker from Sonora, Mexico. Martell — born in Arizona and raised in Las Vegas — learned the craft himself, picking it up in his garage in 2013.

“I studied books and watched videos,” Martell, 44, said. “It wasn’t enough, so I went ahead and took some classes on how to make boots.”

Martell began taking orders from friends and started the business through word-of-mouth recommendations.

Some of his earliest customers still rely on Martell for cowboy boots, including Las Vegas resident Anthony Goodwin.

“I got seven boots from him now,” Goodwin said. “There’s no comparison for boots from a store versus from him. For the reason that they’re custom-fit to you. They’re the most comfortable boots. And then the longevity. I have the same boots I bought from him the first time (in 2015) that are still perfect right now.”

Western style market continues to grow

Customers like Goodwin are part of the resurgence of Western wear, a global market that has grown steadily over the past decade.

It topped $1.5 trillion last year, and is expected to reach nearly $2.5 trillion by 2035, according to consultancy firm Allied Market Research.

Lorynn Divita, an associate professor of apparel design and merchandising at Baylor University, attributes this surge to the popular television show “Yellowstone” and the new generation of country artists.

“The thing about Western wear is it’s a great type of clothing that can be worn on a continuum,” Divita said. “If someone wants to just dabble in the Western wear look, they can wear one or two items. They can wear just a pair of boots.“

Along with relocating to Fremont Street, this trend has fueled Martell’s business.

“It has helped us tremendously,” Martell said.