Borderland country fashion business ready for return of Mexican customers

EL PASO, Texas - Starr Western Wear has provided the Borderland with the latest western fashion for 60 years. With three locations in different parts of El Paso, they try to provide the entire city with easy access to their stores. Like most businesses in the Borderland, many of their customers are from Ciudad Juarez. During the pandemic, many of the Mexican customers were unable to cross the border to shop at their favorite American stores.

In order to avoid losing all of their business with their Mexican customers, Starr Western Wear tried to be as flexible as possible.

"El Paso and Juarez are one big city, so you know people do manage to get across. We did have people finding very creative ways to get up here and get product and buy their jeans and boots and hats. And so whether it was a relative, or [if they] buy it online and swing by and pick it up, we were able to maintain our sales," Enoch Kimmelman, owner of the chain said.

Due to the pandemic, supply chains all over the world are backlogged, causing many stores to be out of stock on numerous items. That is not the case for Starr Western Wear.

Kimmelman told ABC-7 that his experience with "the supply chain issues are challenging for everyone, but fortunately, we've always maintained a nice inventory level. And so we've got plenty, we've got plenty coming, and I think we'll be ready for everyone."

Starr Western Wear is looking forward to welcoming back their Mexican customers in person.

"We're ready for all the people to come from Mexico. We've missed them and we're going to welcome them with open arms."