How Tecovas is spreading ‘radical hospitality’ across the US

Walk into Tecovas’s SoHo flagship and the first thing you notice might not be the cowboy boots lining the walls. It might be the smell.

The 1-year-old New York store smells unmistakably of leather, with boots and Western apparel displayed throughout the sprawling space. But there’s also a bar where shoppers can grab a drink, couches designed for lounging, and stations offering services like boot shines and product customization. Basically, it’s a total hangout spot.

Tecovas calls it “radical hospitality.”

“You show up in New York and you show experiential [retail] and try to be there for the customers more than for the transaction,” Kim Heidt, chief retail officer at Tecovas, told Retail Brew following a recent walkthrough. “New Yorkers have just really been treating us well.”

Now, Tecovas is trying to take that experience to a lot more places.

Giddy up: The digitally native brand has been steadily building its brick-and-mortar footprint, opening almost 15 stores a year, per Heidt, with seven more planned before the end of 2026. That includes a Williamsburg location in September and 15 additional openings in 2027.

But Heidt said Tecovas isn’t “chasing a store count.” Instead, the retailer looks at things like its existing e-commerce penetration when deciding where to open up shop. While that gives new locations an established customer base, stores have also become an important part of the retailer’s acquisition strategy. Heidt explained that almost half of store shoppers are existing customers while half are first-timers.

She added that the leather smell from stores can lure in passersby, while some customers use Tecovas stores as meetup spots and regulars stop by weekly.

Howdy, partner: Keeping them there is where “radical hospitality” comes in, although Heidt doesn’t exactly consider that a retail strategy.

“It’s who we are,” she said. “It’s how we show up.”

What that means for store associates interacting with customers is keeping up with an extensive array of product and fit knowledge to help shoppers who may have never tried on cowboy boots, but also training in active listening and community building. Store managers are encouraged to become local ambassadors of sorts, with several of the brand’s outposts regularly hosting events for businesses and other community members.

It doesn’t mean the drinks, boot shining, and employees staffing customization stations are marketing gimmicks where the ROI must be justified by converting every curious visitor into a customer. Heidt said those hospitality elements are simply part of stores’ P&Ls as operating expenses. It’s a philosophy that extends beyond its actual stores.

For instance, the company recently announced a partnership with Bass Pro Shops, where Tecovas operates shop-in-shops run by its own employees. Heidt said the retailer was attracted to Bass Pro’s loyal customer base and shared its focus on quality, craftsmanship, and hospitality.

“You’ll feel like you’re in a Tecovas store,” she said.

She added that she doesn’t envision the company becoming a chain with hundreds or thousands of stores. Instead, they’re meant to serve markets capable of sustaining them, while wholesale partners can fill in the gaps, and e-commerce can look after repeat purchases once shoppers know their boot size and preferred fit.

For Heidt, however, keeping that model working as Tecovas grows ultimately comes down to something a bit less complicated than omnichannel strategy.

“Yes, we’re selling product, and we all believe in that product, and that product is what got us here,” she said. “But what keeps us going and maintaining it is the people. So I feel like I am more in the people’s business than anything else.”