Boot-strap business
Houston Business Journal - by Walker C. Wooding Jr Houston Business Journal
Dave Wheeler took over the reigns of the boot-making business started by his father at the worst possible time.
Fifteen years ago, as Wheeler was taking the helm, the oil and gas industry crashed, and many of the Wheeler Boot Co.'s most consistent customers had to begin passing on the company's fancy footwear.
"When the bust hit, a large number of our customers were gone," says Wheeler. "One day, we had nine to 10 orders per day. And next day, somebody shut the faucet off."
The economy's drastic swing was odd to Wheeler, who had been involved with his father's business since age 12. One-time shoemaker Paul Wheeler founded the company in 1960.
But the experience of Houston's bust forced Dave Wheeler to press beyond being a craftsman and pushed him toward becoming a businessman. He decided to overhaul certain aspects of the business to fortify it well enough to weather the recession.
Survival tactics included inventory cuts as well as slashing expenses in other areas. A major business expense and also a popular target for reductions -- employees -- was compromised. Instead of layoffs, employee benefits got the guillotine treatment.
"Between 1983 and 1990, it was pretty rough around here," says Wheeler.
But like so many other retailers in Houston, the boot company saw the dawn of a new day in the 1990s. And in 1992, with the Houston economy kicking up its heels, Wheeler Boot Co. could start betting its boots again on business. Orders that had taken about three months to wrap up were now starting to take six months to complete because demand for the boots started to swell.
And since the resurrection, the swelling has gone untreated.
SHODDING CELEBRITIES
The company has suited the needs of customer's tastes -- before and after the bust -- from plain calfskin to fancy, complicated designs the shop has become known for.
Robert Duvall and D.B. Sweeney, who appeared in the television Western saga Lonesome Dove, have both sported pairs of Wheeler custom-designed boots. Houston criminal defense lawyer Dick DeGuerin of DeGuerin & Dickson often wears Wheeler boots to court and has the tendency to sprinkle some chili powder on the lower back quarter of one of the boots.
DeGuerin's law partner, Lewis Dickson, had a pair of boots designed by Wheeler that were -- at $5,000 -- the most expensive designed, until recently. Dickson had the pair designed to feature Dia de los Muertos, a Mexican celebration that commemorates the dead and coincides with All Souls and All Saints days.
"The boots caused quite a stir," says Wheeler.
Dr. James "Red" Duke wears his Wheeler boots when performing trauma surgery, and former Houston Oilers head football coach Jerry Glanville has also treated himself to Wheeler-designed boots.
Wheeler is still working on his most expensive pair of boots to date -- a $7,000 football-themed set for a customer who's been to 16 Super Bowls. The top portion of each boot will have slots to hold game ticket stubs, and logos from the stubs are being worked into the leather. Wheeler says it has taken 20 hours just to map out the design, and the hands-on work is nearing 100. Wheeler sees 250 to 300 hours of labor going into finishing the boots.
The average Wheeler price tag ranges between $900 and $1,000, with $700 starting as a base price. But Wheeler admits he gets fired up for the challenge of making a pair of boots other bootmakers won't.
"It's like a touchdown pass," he says. "A five-yard touchdown pass is still six points. But a 80-yard bomb is prettier and doesn't come around that often."
A WESTERN HERITAGE
Celebrity customers and upscale orders aside, Wheeler says the business is really about the customers who keep coming back for more. Regulars usually buy eight to 10 pairs from Wheeler.
"I have a customer who has bought 45 pairs of boots from us," Wheeler says. "He's like a celebrity to me. If he walked in the door with Tom Cruise, I'd take care of my regular and tell Mr. Cruise he will have to wait."
Beside appearing on customers' feet, the boots have also made rounds in other fashion. Many of the designs have appeared in art exhibits in Houston and around the country. They have also been seen in classic Western boot books such as Texas Boots, The Cowboy Boot Book and Art of the Boot. A pair of the company's boots also resides in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, as part of the Z.Z. Top exhibit.
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