A Boot Collector Feature
A Yankees manager, a sports agent, and a tip from Mickey Mantle turned into 32 years of selling "western duds to eastern dudes" on the Upper East Side.
Billy Martin's opened in 1979 as a partnership between Yankees manager Billy Martin and sports agent Doug Newton, after Mickey Mantle pointed out how few New Yorkers actually owned cowboy boots. The concept — "western duds to eastern dudes" — rode the era's Urban Cowboy wave, opening on the Upper East Side before relocating in 2007 to Trump Plaza at Third Avenue and East 61st Street.
A client list that reads like a celebrity roster: Sheryl Crow, the Dixie Chicks, Sylvester Stallone, Whoopi Goldberg, Bruce Springsteen, and Arnold Schwarzenegger among them. Owner Doug Newton pointed to one detail in particular as a point of pride.
"Bruce Springsteen wore a Billy Martin belt on the 'Born in the USA' album cover."— Doug Newton, co-founder
The store closed in March 2011 after 32 years, with Newton citing financial difficulties rather than any single cause. He left the door open to a future return, and the brand has kept a presence online since.
A Manhattan Western-wear institution that dressed rock stars and movie stars for three decades, even after the storefront itself closed.
Pairs from smaller, custom, or long-closed makers rarely come up for sale, so this search may not find anything. It’s worth checking back now and then.