Katie Canales/Business Insider
- There’s a reason cowboy boot retailer Tecovas has been dubbed the "Warby Parker of cowboy boots."
- The Western wear company started out selling high-quality cowboy boots online directly to consumers, earning itself comparisons to other direct brands like Warby Parker, Glossier, and Everlane.
- And like those brands, Tecovas is able to sell its products at a lower price point than its traditional retail competitors. Tecovas’ most popular men’s boots sell for around $225, and the average price point is about $300, founder Paul Hedrick told Loose Threads.
- Tecovas has also recently expanded into the brick-and-mortar landscape, opening its first retail store in Austin, Texas. It has also recently raised $30 million in Series A funding led by Elephant, a venture capital firm founded in part by Warby Parker cofounder Andy Hunt.
- The extra capital will fund the expansion of more brick-and-mortar stores across Texas, but these boots aren’t just for cowboys.
- Hedrick told Business Insider that he envisions his boots dressing many a person from New York to Chicago to Texas and beyond. With 70% of the company’s sales coming from outside of Texas, he may be on to something.
- "My goal for the boots has always been for them to be equally fitting in the boardroom as they are in the bar as they are in the wedding as they are at a concert," Hedrick said.
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In today’s burgeoning direct-to-consumer retail arena, Tecovas isn’t the first to strike gold.
Katie Canales/Business Insider
Source: Business Insider
Warby Parker may be one of the most well-known brands to have popularized the "direct-to-consumer" model. The company launched in 2010 selling eyeglasses directly to consumers online, cutting out the hiked costs that come with going through other retailers. Warby Parker was most recently valued at $1.75 billion.
Mark Lennihan/AP
Source: Business Insider and Business Insider
Tecovas took the same approach when it launched in 2015. And while it didn’t reinvent the wheel, it is the first to zero in on one particular untapped product and market: Western footwear.
Katie Canales/Business Insider
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Katie Canales)