Trump’s Looming Mexico Tariffs Could Mean Higher Prices of Cowboy Boots at Boot Barn
Boot Barn is continuing to see success as a western boot destination retailer in its most recent quarter.
According to interim chief executive officer John Hazen, the Irvine, Calif.-based footwear company’s Q3 sales were led by the combined ladies’ western boots and apparel businesses, which comped positive low double digits. This was followed by the combined men’s western boots and apparel business, which comped positive high single digits.
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So far, these four categories are also performing well in January, the interim CEO noted. “Looking at the specific departments in January, we saw an acceleration in both men’s and women’s western categories, specifically boots and apparel,” Hazen told analysts on the company’s third quarter earnings call on Thursday. “So, we saw a nice business in those four major merchandise categories.”
Hazen also is paying attention to the impact of new tariffs. Following Boot Barn’s Thursday call, President Donald Trump said Friday he would enact more tariffs on Saturday. Indeed, the company faces potential risks, particularly with 30 percent of its orders coming from China and 25 percent of its orders coming from Mexico, which could impact leather-soled cowboy boots.
“We are testing other countries, but we’re not going to overreact right now,” Hazen said. “There are great boots made in Mexico, and there’s supply chain efficiencies we’re looking at in terms of how we bring those boots up and how we go about manufacturing [them], and then putting some pressure on our vendors.”
With any tariff move, consumers may have to bear some of the burden, the interim CEO noted. “If there is a significant tariff, we’re going to have to work on getting better pricing, some economies of scale in the supply chain and perhaps passing some of that price increase on to the customer to maintain our margin profile,” he said.
The interim CEO added that the company’s work boot category has seen “a little bit more of a struggle” in January and in the third quarter.
“[But] there’s no crisis in work boots by any means, but we’d like to see our work boots perform better,” Hazen admitted. “And we’re doing some work around each brand, lace-up versus pull-on, to figure out what more we could do on the work boots side. So, work boots are the one place I’d like to see some improvement in the business.”
This comes as the company reported on Thursday that net sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2025 increased 6.9 percent to $608.2 million, up from $520.4 million in the prior-year period. Net income in the period was $75.1 million, or $2.43 per diluted share, compared to $55.6 million, or $1.81 per diluted share, in the prior-year period.
In light of its third quarter results, Boot Barn is raising its guidance again for the full fiscal year. Now, the company expects total sales for fiscal 2025 between $1.908 billion to $1.918 billion, representing growth of 14.5 percent to 15.1 percent over the prior year.
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