A Boot Collector Feature
A one-man Whitesboro, Texas shop that's been building solid, no-shortcuts boots since 1976 — with a waitlist to match.
Mike Allred has run his custom bootmaking operation out of Whitesboro, Texas as a one-man shop since 1976, according to a Texas Monthly feature on the state's custom bootmakers. Working entirely solo, without a second pair of hands to speed things along, Allred built a reputation on solid, dependable construction rather than decorative flourish — the kind of boot made to be worn hard for years.
Decades of solo, one-man production, with a wait once reported at a year and a half — a sign of how much demand a single bootmaker's reputation can carry even without a staff behind him.
Nearly fifty years of one-man bootmaking in Whitesboro.
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.