Man returns to roots, keeps boot business in the family
TAMPA, Fla. - Scott Meister, the owner of Russell's Western Wear, enjoys giving lessons on western footwear.
"I often tell people it's not fair to everybody else how much fun I get to have doing what I love to do here at Russell's," Meister shared.
His family's love affair started when his grandfather built the original building in the 1960s.
"When the last owner became ill, my grandaddy ended up jumping in and said, ‘I want to do this,’" Meister recalled. "So, he brought the inventory out and took the store over and that was 1992," he said.
When his grandfather died, Meister came back to Tampa from Washington D.C. and bought the business from his family.
"I saw this business sitting here and I fell back in love with it," Meister said. "It has been a blast for me ever since."
Meister says each boot is a uniquely crafted work of art.
"If you look at a boot like this one, there's somewhere between 100 to 125 steps into making this product and all but about three of them are done with people's hands," he explained.
Meister now owns eight stores with more than 30,000 boots in inventory.
"I think people look at these and say there is something Americana about putting a pair of boots on. That takes me back to the good old days in the old west and all sort of the history that this nation has been through."
Footwear that tells the tale of a rich history of the American West.
LINK: For more information on Russell's Western Wear visit www.Russells.com.
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