A Boot Collector Feature
A five-man Rio Grande Valley shop led by a 35-year veteran of the trade, building exotic-leather boots fast enough to turn around in a month.
Moran's Leather operated out of U.S. Highway 83 in Weslaco, in the Rio Grande Valley, under Rafael Moran, a native of San Luis Potosí, Mexico, who had 35 years of bootmaking experience at the time of a Texas Monthly feature on the state's bootmakers and oversaw a five-man shop.
Exotic-leather boots — alligator and ostrich among them — with a client list that included Tejano radio and TV personality Johnny Canales and the band Los Cadetes de Linares. At the time of the Texas Monthly feature, pairs started around $150 with a one-month turnaround, among the fastest and most affordable entry points of the shops the magazine surveyed.
A Rio Grande Valley exotic-leather shop with a Tejano music following.
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.