Western wear is bucking the retail slowdown

• Boot Barn beat Wall Street expectations with an 18.7% sales increase to $505.4 million.
• Western wear has had a resurgence in recent years.
• Boot Barn’s CEO said the company is also selling more denim, especially bootcut jeans.

Boasting the rodeo-ready title of the largest Western retailer in the United States, Boot Barn beat Wall Street expectations in its quarterly earnings report on Wednesday.

The company reported a net sales of $505.4 million, a 18.7% increase from a year prior. Boot Barn’s share price has increased by more than 50% over the past 12 months, and is up over 27% year-to-date.

Boot Barn, which operates nearly 500 stores, said it conducted a market analysis that determined its total addressable market is bigger than previously believed, at an estimated $58 billion. Its TAM was previously thought to be $40 billion.

“We now also believe we can operate 1,200 stores across the United States, an increase from our prior estimate of 900, which is more than double our current footprint,” CEO John Hazen said. “We are confident in our ability to capitalize on this expanded market opportunity while continuing to deliver strong returns for our stockholders.”

Hazen said during the call that while the company had seen strength across its main categories of western apparel and boots for men and women, the company’s denim segment has become a draw in and of itself.

“We really have become more of a denim destination,” Hazen said.

Western wear has experienced a resurgence in recent years, driven in part by the popularity of the show “Yellowstone” and major pop culture events, like Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” album and tour.

While some American retailers experienced a slowdown this year, driven in part by tariffs, Boot Barn said it’s seen sales growth both online and in-store.

“As I look at the top 10 styles in women’s denim or men’s denim, it is almost exclusively bootcut jeans,” Hazen added, noting that its customers are seeking out the “traditional silhouette.”

Christopher Nardone, an analyst with Bank of America who was on the call, asked if Boot Barn was seeing emerging competition in the Western category, given its popularity.

CFO Jim Watkins said that when Western boots, especially women’s, are more in style, some of the mainstream brands will sell them, at least temporarily, but that they “haven’t really seen any significant, sizable entrants into the market.”

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