Houston-based custom boot company buys Heights building for headquarters, expansion

A homegrown Houston company known for crafting custom cowboy boots has acquired a 100-year-old Heights building for its headquarters, flagship retail store and heart of its boot-making operation.

Republic Boot Co. paid an undisclosed amount to purchase the 10,578-square-foot building at 1133 E. 11th St.

Alison Sewell with Compass represented Republic Boot Co. in the deal, while Justin Miller with Marcus & Millichap represented the seller.

Republic Boot Co. founder and owner Chris Conrad recently told the Houston Business Journal that owning the building will allow his business “to get to the next level.”

Since its founding in 2011, Republic Boot. Co. has grown into the preferred bootshop of such local celebrities as Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, Houston Texans owner Cal McNair and rapper Paul Wall.

While Republic Boot Co. has operated out of 1133 E. 11th St. since 2021, the company only purchased the property this month. Until recently, that meant the boot company was largely confined to a single retail space.

However, after several surrounding tenants moved out, which allowed Republic Boot Co. to expand, Conrad said it only made sense to buy the building.

“When we had the chance to move into the Heights a few years ago, it waspretty meaningful — my great-grandparents settled here,” Conrad said. “Thisspace came along, and it’s perfect.”

In the expanded space, Republic Boot Co. has been able to add a custom-hat bar, a stage for live music, a boardroom that serves as the company’s meeting space and a venue for corporate events, more space for inventory storage and a larger retail store.

But for Republic Boot Co., it always comes back to the custom cowboy boots, which are handmade in the 11th Street building. The company sells 1,300 pairs of custom cowboy boots each year, and those boots can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 or more. The company also offers a line of stock, ready-to-wear boots.

“We are all about handcrafted here, especially when that means it’s made in Texas,” Conrad said. “The larger space has allowed us to showcase the handcrafted clothing, bags, belts and knives in the front of the store, and it gives us more space to support the boots in a lot of ways.”

Before Republic Boot Co. bought the building, it was owned by Houston-based Wolf Capital Partners.

Wolf Capital purchased the property in 2021, about two years after a car crashed into the building sparking a minor fire and leaving a gaping hole in the side of the structure. That, of course, drove the building’s remaining tenants tomove out.

Once the well-known Decapo’s Pastry Café, the property always has had a prominent place in the neighborhood scene.

When he bought the property, which actually spans several retail spaces near the intersection with Studewood Street, Wolf Capital founder Zach Wolf told the HBJ that even with its damage, he felt it still had “good bones.”

“When you peel back the layers of the property, it’s really impressive," Wolf said at the time. “It’s more than 100 years old, so it’s irreplaceable. And it has all of the modern amenities right within walking distance.”

Wolf could not be reached for comment about the building's new owner.