Why Iconic American Bootmaker Nicks Built Its New Line in Mexico

Nicks Handmade Boots has been sewing, measuring, customizing and building boots in Spokane, Washington, since 1964. It puts together some of the most well-regarded boots in the US, trusted by everyone from heritage enthusiasts to wildland firefighters who need to keep their feet safe from literal burning coals. 

That kind of craftsmanship has never been cheap. A pair built to your length, width, and leather of choice runs $600 to $800, and plenty of people happily pay it.

Today, Nicks launches something different. Simply Good Boots (SGB, to friends) is a $300 all-leather boot made in León, Mexico. It’s been two years in the making, it lives on its own website, and CEO Shuyler Mowe wants to be very clear about one thing. It is not a Nicks.

“We’re just going to make it in Mexico,” Mowe told me. “We’re going to tell you it’s being made in Mexico. And it’s going to be a really great product.”

That price point is anything but an accident. $300 used to be the sweet spot for a good boot, but inflation has pushed a lot of those boots up and out. Thursday sits below it; Red Wing and Wolverine, fine boots all, hover above. Right at $300? Not a lot of company.

The few that held the line at $300 often got “decontented”: thinner leather, cheaper parts, same price tag. There’s plenty out there under $150 and a growing crop between $400 and $600. Nicks spent two years tearing apart everything in between, from legacy American brands to newer upstarts, and decided it could hang with the best of them.

“There is an opportunity there, obviously, or we wouldn’t do it,” Mowe says, “and $300 is still $300. You can get a lot of boot for your money.”

SGB is built on the Thurman, one of Nicks’ own house lasts, with the same plain-toe silhouette and roomy toe box as boots that cost twice as much. What it doesn’t get is the extras: no slip sole (the extra layer of leather Nicks stacks between midsole and outsole), slightly thinner leather, no gusseted tongue, and less robust counters. A Nicks still gets double-row stitching, heavier leather all around, and an insane level of customization, down to the hardware, thread color, and even a knife pocket.

“But for those who don’t need all that, we can provide something,” Mowe says.

León is the heart of Mexico’s leatherworking industry, and the factory Nicks partnered with also builds western boots, which Mowe calls the highest-ceiling work in town. With tariffs scrambling where (and how cheaply) boots can be made, it makes sense on more than one front. That doesn’t mean “hands-off”: when Nicks didn’t love the hardware available locally, it started shipping its own down from Spokane.

So why now? Follow the cows. The U.S. cattle herd is at a 75-year low, and fewer cattle means fewer hides. That’s the supply side, and for those remembering intro to econ, when there’s a supply constraint, prices usually go up. But the real world is very rarely as simple as a classroom, and there’s a counterweight here: China, historically the biggest buyer of American hides, is buying roughly half what it used to. Mowe doesn’t expect that to last. If that demand comes back, he says, “all of a sudden leather is 25, 30 percent more expensive.”

Meanwhile, everything else a Spokane bootmaker has to pay for keeps climbing. Mowe says he paid about $300 a month per employee for health insurance in 2020; now it’s over $700. And because it takes years to train someone to build a Nicks, the company can only grow so fast. SGB adds revenue without adding those fixed costs.

There’s a defensive play, too. Two competitors have been selling Nicks lookalikes for around $400. “Why does this company get to do the exact same thing?” Mowe says. Better to own that price point yourself. He compares it to Lexus and Toyota: Nicks stays the halo, and its best ideas trickle down.

As for the label on the box, Mowe isn’t sweating it. In a survey of Nicks customers, with responses well into the four figures, “made in the USA” ranked ninth among reasons people buy. They come for the leather and the construction. SGB is a bet that $300 buyers want the same thing.

“We’re not offshoring. We’re not outsourcing an existing business,” Mowe says. “This is a new business.” It’s a boot Nicks has never made, built for people who can’t or won’t spend $700 on footwear.

SGB is aimed squarely at the trade, where buyers are more price-sensitive and a boot is a tool. But look at the thing. Smooth leather in three great colors, a clean plain toe, and a white wedge sole with a stacked natural edge. Rawhide laces run up to speed hooks, there’s a pull loop at the heel, and a small debossed SGB logo sits on the shaft. It’s a work boot that cleans up very nicely, and it’ll look just as good with selvedge on a Saturday as on a jobsite.

“You could totally wear this as a casual boot,” Mowe says. “And hopefully people do.”

If things at SGB do well, he’s hopeful that more is coming: a composite-toe version, additional sole options, a taller height, and a moc toe. 

The practical stuff: SGB runs true to your Brannock measurement, which is a half size bigger than Nicks. If you already own a pair of Nicks, don’t order your Nicks size. Wide feet will appreciate the Thurman’s toe box, but there are no wide widths yet (Mowe hopes to add them). And with no gusset, maybe don’t take these boots for wading through puddles.

The verdict: If you’ve always wanted a pair of Nicks but couldn’t justify the price, this is the closest you’ll get for $300. It doesn’t pretend to be anything it isn’t—and that may be its best feature.

Simply Good Boots launched this week on October 26. Shop the full collection here.