I Never Planned to Own a Boot Store

If someone had told me on New Year's Day in 2023 that I'd own a western wear store by March 1st, I would have laughed.

At the time, I was selling cars at Circle K Motors, and life was good. I enjoyed my job, I enjoyed working with customers, and I honestly thought I'd probably retire there. Opening my own retail store wasn't part of the plan. In fact, I never really thought about owning a brick-and-mortar store at all.

A local business owner looked at me one day and said, "You ought to open your own retail store." I didn't dismiss the idea, but I certainly wasn't looking for a building or thinking about filling one with inventory. I was already selling western products online through another large wholesaler, and I enjoyed doing that. As far as I was concerned, that was enough. Even so, the idea stayed with me longer than I expected.

After thinking about it for a while, I called a western brand sales representative I'd known for years. I respected his opinion, and I wanted to know what he thought. I wasn't calling to buy boots. I was simply looking for advice from someone who knew the western industry. About ten minutes after we hung up, my phone rang. It was someone from the brand itself, and the first question they asked me wasn't how many boots I wanted to order or how big my store was going to be. They simply asked, "How can we help?"

That phone call is something I've never forgotten. Here was a national western brand taking time to encourage someone who didn't even have a store yet. They weren't trying to sell me anything. They were simply willing to help someone who was thinking about taking a chance. That conversation made me believe this crazy idea might actually be possible.

Looking back now, I also realize I had been preparing for that moment for years without knowing it. I had more than twenty years of experience in western retail and was fortunate to spend many of those years learning from the Young family. Going through the Nocona Boot Fit Program taught me the importance of fitting boots correctly, but I learned far more than that along the way. Mike Young showed me what customer service looked like when it was done right. I learned that selling boots wasn't about making a sale. It was about earning someone's trust and making sure they walked out the door with the right pair of boots.

Those lessons still guide me every day.

Even with all of that experience, opening Humdinger Boots wasn't easy. The hardest part wasn't knowing boots. The hardest part was committing to inventory. Retail isn't what it was twenty years ago. You don't simply order more boots every week when you run low. Many buying decisions have to be made months in advance, sometimes nearly a year before those boots ever reach your shelves. You're investing in products long before you know who will eventually buy them.

People sometimes assume the biggest challenge in starting a business is finding the money. For us, it wasn't. From the beginning, we made the decision that if we were going to do this, we'd build it without borrowing money. We wanted Humdinger Boots to grow because we earned it, not because we financed it. That meant growing slower, reinvesting back into the business, and adding inventory one step at a time. Looking back, I wouldn't change that decision.

One thing that's important to me is making sure people understand that Humdinger Boots has never been a one-person accomplishment. I'm the one people see every day, and I'm grateful for that, but there have always been people behind the scenes who believed in this idea from the beginning. They invested in it, encouraged it, and helped build what Humdinger Boots has become. Some of them prefer to stay out of the spotlight, and I respect that completely. They know who they are, and so do I. This store simply wouldn't exist without them.

The person who has lived through every step of the journey is my wife, Karlanne. She jokes that she's had to put up with all of my "crazy ideas" over the years, and she's probably right. Spur Radio was one of those ideas. Humdinger Boots was another. Every time I came home excited about something new, she was the one asking the practical questions while somehow continuing to believe I could pull it off. Every small business owner knows that when you start a business, your family starts it with you. I honestly couldn't have done this without her support.

People also ask me where the name Humdinger Boots came from.

I wish I could tell you I hired a marketing company or spent months coming up with the perfect name, but that's not how it happened. While we were throwing around ideas, my sister-in-law, Deanne, looked at me and said, "Why don't you call it Humdinger Boots?"

Her reasoning made everyone laugh because I'd been saying, "Now that's a humdinger," for years. I'd throw a strike during bowling league, turn around and say it. If something impressed me, I'd say it. Apparently everyone around me had noticed that little habit long before I did. Once she said it out loud, the name just fit. Looking back now, I can't imagine calling the store anything else.

Today, when someone walks into Humdinger Boots, they see rows of boots and western wear. What they don't see are the years that led up to opening the front door for the first time. They don't see the conversations, the encouragement, the years spent learning the business, or the people who quietly helped make it happen.

When I think back to January of 2023, I still smile because I truly believed I'd spend the rest of my career selling cars. Life had other plans, and I'm thankful it did. Every customer who walks through our doors, every conversation about boots, and every person who chooses to shop with us reminds me that taking that chance was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

By Ken Fisbeck, Owner of Humdinger Boots