Tecovas on trends, expansion in Texas and beyond

• 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.