12-03-2025
Tecovas on trends, expansion in Texas and beyond
Austin-based Tecovas wants to outlast the internet's obsession with western wear.
Why it matters: Boots, denim and fringe are no longer just for cowboys.
Headlines from Vogue and GQ call western wear 2024's defining trend, and you don't have to scroll far to find influencers showing off their new boots.
Driving the news: Tecovas' vice president of brand marketing, Samantha Fodrowski, spoke at Axios House during South by Southwest about the brand's strategy to balance trends and its growing footprint.
What they're saying:"We're all throughout Texas now, but we're also in places you might not expect to see a western brand" — like Boston, California and Philadelphia, she told Axios. "We're able to ride this wave. It's certainly not a bad thing."
Zoom in: Tecovas opened its first retail store on South Congress in 2019, offering boots generally priced lower than other traditional retailers because of their direct-to-consumer model.
South Congress has become a boot epicenter, with longtime boot shop Allens Boots, Heritage Boot Co. and Lucchese Boot Company.
Yes, but: Fodrowski said the bootmaker "doesn't see Western as a trend," and notes that they're the "newbie" in a craft that's been around for many years.
"We're so respectful of the craft and the brands that have been around for as long as they have," she said.
The big picture: Tecovas rapidly expanded in recent years, opening 11 new stores in 2024.
The boot brand now has 42 brick-and-mortar locations across the country and recently announced its move into the wholesale market.
"We really look at where people are already searching for us, where they're buying us online," Fodrowski said, adding the company is "very selective about where we're putting stores."
What's next: Tecovas plans to open 12 more this summer, including its first store in New York City, according to Fodrowski.
