Well-known boots make stand downtown
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) - Lucchese Boot have made their mark in the market for the past 140 years. Saturday they opened the doors to their new flagship store in the heart of downtown El Paso.
The well-known bootmaker has been a staple in El Paso since 1986 when the manufacturing operations moved from San Antonio to the Sun City.
Skilled Texas artisans carefully handcraft each boot with precision upholding this proud tradition.
"We were born in Italy and bred in Texas. And we are all handmade in right here in the state of Texas, right here in El Paso," said Alison Anderson, Lucchese's District Manager. "Handcrafted by local artisans that have been doing this for 40 years."
Salvatore Lucchese founder the brand in 1883 in San Antonio, Texas. He was born in Palermo, Sicily in Italy. His father was a shoemaker. At the age of 14 he and his brother, Joseph, sailed from their hometown of Palermo to Galveston, Texas, according to the company's website biography.
A year later the brothers moved to San Antonio and set up a boot making shop near the United States Calvary School at Fort Sam Houston. Two other brothers joined Salvatore and Joseph in the new business and made considerable improvements to their operation by integrating new technology and equipment.
The first pair of boots on their journal was a $9 pair of kangaroo boots with a 1.5-inch heel back in December of 1897.
Through the decades high profile business owners and military members order custom made boots from Lucchese.
Since then stars of the silver screen and political arenas have sat to have their measurement taken for special one-of-a-kind boots, including stars like Bing Crosby, Gregory Peck, Gary Cooper, former President Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Dean, and President Ronald Reagan gifted a pair to King Hassan II of Morocco in 1982.
The 81st Texas Legislature introduced House Bill 226 on June 9, 2009, commemorating the 125th anniversary of the bootmaker.
The new downtown location at 127 Pioneer Plaza.
This is the third store, joining two factory outlet stores on 6601 Montana and 11751 Gateway West.
This is the 20th store in Texas, 27 in the nation.
