By Edward Loya 

Shortly before his retirement, Ray Jones told reporters that custom western bootmaking was a vanishing art. Ray said none of his apprentices were ready to take his place because they had not yet mastered every step of bootmaking. Read more

By Edward Loya 

In the late 1970s, there was a growing consensus in Texas that Ray Jones just might be the best bootmaker in the state, if not the country. So, when Ray abruptly announced his retirement in 1977 Read more

MaineSole is redefining its products and marketing goals after COVID setback 

By LYNN ASCRIZZI 

For almost four years, a small shoe factory called MaineSole has been making handsewn, all-leather shoes in an old woolen mill, a massive brick structure built in 1835, situated along the East Branch of the Sebasticook River that winds its way through Dexter, Maine.    

MaineSole was launched in the spring Read more

Liisa Andreassen 

It happened when he was 11. Brian Thomas walked into his local shoe repair and leather store and was quickly seduced by the sultry smell that lingered in the air. He just knew he had to find a way to be around it and he Read more

 By Nick Pernokas 

Moe’s Custom Boots in Beggs, Oklahoma, is one of those ephemeral dreams that’s always been there, yet seems to be a more recent fixture. That’s the way dreams work sometimes. 

Randy Moe’s family had a few horses and cattle on their Oregon acreage. Although it wasn’t large enough to Read more