by A business in historic downtown Gruene located at 1601 Hunter Road has expanded to offer more Western attire for visitors and residents to purchase. The Gruene Hat Co. expanded in March to offer a new shop called The Gruene Boot Co, which sells cowboy boots to customers.
The owner of the two businesses, Cody Courtney, said he was inspired to bring a Western boot store to New Braunfels to help add to the Southern aesthetic of the area.
“We’ve got a fantastic team, and it really kinda drove our confidence to say, ‘Let’s take this next step here [and] open up a cowboy boots store,’” Courtney said. “We were just inundated with requests the last four years by people buying a cowboy hat for the first time. … We were just shocked that there’s really no one within Gruene or New Braunfels frankly that had a real cowboy boot presence.”
Courtney said the store sells over 60 styles of boots and offers the largest selection of cowboy boots in New Braunfels. Men’s trendy and traditional styles of boots are available in the brands Ariat, Azulado, and Horse Power, among others. There are many styles of boots for women to choose from, including from the brands Macie Bean, Liberty Black and Azulado. Courtney said once he learns the customer base, he plans to cater to the popular styles.
“We hope that we’re fulfilling kind of a niche in the market but also being really just a complement to the overall Gruene experience,” Courtney said. “When patrons go into Gruene, … they could have the opportunity to buy a cowboy hat or have the opportunity buy cowboy boots. … So we just kinda want to be a part of that nostalgic, if you will.”
