Boot Barn Holdings Stock

Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. operates specialty retail stores that sell western and work boots, and related apparel, and accessories.

The company operates retail locations throughout the U.S. and sells its merchandise via the Internet. The company operates stores in 43 states. As of the fiscal year ending April 1, 2023, all stores operated under the Boot Barn name, with the exception of stores, which operate under the American Worker name.

The company’s product offering is anchored by an extensive selection of western and work boots and is complemented by a wide assortment of coordinating apparel and accessories. Many of the items that the company offers are basics or necessities for its customers’ daily lives and typically represent enduring styles that are not meaningfully impacted by changing fashion trends. Accordingly, a majority of the company’s inventory is kept in stock through automated replenishment programs. The company’s boot selection, which comprises approximately one-third of each store’s selling square footage space, is merchandised on self-service fixtures with western boots arranged by size and work boots arranged by style and function. This allows the company to display the full breadth of its inventory and deliver a convenient shopping experience.

The company also carries market-leading assortments of denim, western shirts, cowboy hats, belts and belt buckles, western-style jewelry and accessories. The company’s western assortment includes many of the industry’s most sought-after brands, such as Ariat, Cinch, Cody James, Corral, Dan Post, Durango, El Dorado, Idyllwind, Justin, Laredo, Miss Me, Montana Silversmiths, Moonshine Spirit, Resistol, Shyanne, Stetson, Tony Lama, Twisted X, and Wrangler. The company’s work assortment includes rugged footwear, outerwear, overalls, denim and shirts for the most physically demanding jobs where durability, performance and protection matter, including safety-toe boots and flame-resistant and high-visibility clothing. Among the top work brands sold in its stores are Carhartt, Cody James Work, Georgia Boot, Hawx, Thorogood, Timberland Pro and Wolverine. The company’s merchandise is also available on its e-commerce websites.

Strategy

The key elements of the company's strategy include continuing omni-channel leadership; driving same store sales growth; building its exclusive brand portfolio; expanding its store base; leveraging its economies of scale; and enhancing brand awareness.

Sales Channels

During the year ended April 1, 2023, the company continued to enhance its omni-channel capabilities. The company’s omni-channel presence consists of both brick-and-mortar stores, as well as an e-commerce platform, consisting primarily of bootbarn.com, sheplers.com, countryoutfitter.com, idyllwind.com and third-party marketplaces. Additionally, during the year ended April 1, 2023, the company launched a Boot Barn app, which has become an additional sales channel for the business.

Stores

As a lifestyle retail concept, the company’s stores offer a broad array of merchandise to outfit an entire family, while working during the week, relaxing on the weekend, or dressing up for an evening out. The company’s stores are easy to navigate across all major product categories. The majority of the company’s stores have ladies’ and children’s apparel, men’s western and work apparel, basic and more stylized denim, and accessories, such as hats, belts, jewelry, handbags, gifts, and various other items.

Boots are the company’s signature category, with an expansive assortment displayed on fixtures up to six shelves in height. The company offers virtually all of its boots in pairs out on the sales floor. To reflect the typical purchasing decision process of each of its customer segments, the company arranges all western boots by size and all work boots by function and brand. While the company’s knowledgeable and friendly store associates are readily available to assist its customers, the store design facilitates a self-service shopping experience.

The company’s stores are generally located in or near high visibility, power and large neighborhood shopping centers with trade areas of five or more miles. The company’s stores average 10,800 selling square feet and feature a comprehensive assortment of brands and styles, coupled with attentive, knowledgeable store associates.

During the year ended April 1, 2023, the company opened new stores. The company’s American Worker stores primarily feature work-related footwear, apparel and accessories.

E-commerce

The company’s e-commerce websites are an integral part of its brand and allow it to further build awareness in its markets and reach customers not served by its geographic footprint. During the year ended April 1, 2023, the company had more than 91 million total visits to its websites, and it sold merchandise to customers in all 50 states.

The company’s growing national footprint and broader marketing efforts drive traffic to its bootbarn.com website and app, which in turn also drives traffic to its stores. As a multi-channel retailer, the company is implementing technology initiatives that integrate in-store and e-commerce platforms into one seamless customer experience. As an example, the company’s stores have in-store touch screen devices that expand the product offering available to its in-store customers, including additional styles, colors and sizes not carried in the store. The company continues to enhance customer service with its omni-channel initiatives, including buy online pick up in-store, buy online pick up curbside, buy online return in store, buy online ship from store, same day delivery and in-store fulfillment of online purchases.

For all of its e-commerce brands, the company communicates information on promotions and upcoming events on its e-commerce websites, which helps drive purchases online and traffic to its stores. The company continues to improve follow-up email communication related to order confirmations, as well as offer boot care and other accessories associated with boot purchases.

Seasonality

The company’s business is moderately seasonal and as a result its revenues fluctuate from quarter to quarter. The third quarter of the company’s fiscal year (year ended April 2023), which includes the Christmas shopping season, has historically produced higher sales and disproportionately higher operating results than the other quarters of its fiscal year. Historically, neither the western nor the work component of the company’s business has been meaningfully impacted by fashion trends or seasonality.

Products

During the year ended April 1, 2023, the company’s products contributed to overall sales in the following manner:

Gender—Men’s merchandise accounted for approximately 60% of its sales with the balance being ladies, kids and unisex merchandise.

Styling—Western styles consisted approximately 70% of its sales, with work-related and other styles making up the balance.

Product Category—Boots accounted for 47% of its sales, with apparel comprising an additional 37% and the balance consisting of hats, gifts, accessories and home merchandise.

The company’s scale has also allowed it to introduce its own proprietary western wear brands, Shyanne and Cody James, which offer high-quality western boots, shirts, jackets and hats for women and men, respectively. In 2019, the company had partnership to develop a lifestyle brand, Idyllwind, inspired by music and creative talents, which includes boots, apparel and accessories. In 2020, the company developed two additional exclusive brands, Hawx and Cody James Work. These brands offer high quality work wear and work boots to its customers. For the year ended March 26, 2022, the company developed four new exclusive brands, Cleo + Wolf, Brothers & Sons, Rank 45 and Blue Ranchwear. These brands expand its exclusive merchandise assortment to its country customer. The company has a dedicated product development team that designs and sources merchandise from suppliers around the world. These product assortments are exclusive to Boot Barn and are merchandised and marketed as if they were third-party brands.

Distribution

The company’s suppliers ship a portion of its in-store merchandise directly to its stores and a portion of its e-commerce merchandise to its e-commerce customers. The remaining units are either shipped from the company’s distribution center located in Fontana, California, or from its distribution center in Wichita, Kansas.

Intellectual Property

The company has registered its trademarks in the U.S., including its brand name Boot Barn and its exclusive brands. The company has a registered trademark for the Sheplers and Country Outfitter brand names. The company has foreign trademark protection in China and Hong Kong where it has registered its Boot Barn trademarks. The company also owns the domain name for www.bootbarn.com, www.sheplers.com and www.countryoutfitter.com.

Regulation and Legislation

The company is subject to labor and employment laws, laws governing truth-in-advertising, privacy laws, safety regulations and other laws at the federal, state and local level, including consumer protection regulations, such as the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, that regulate retailers and govern the promotion and sale of merchandise and the operation of stores and distribution centers.

The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other similar anti-bribery and anti-kickback laws and regulations generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to non-U.S. officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. The company’s policies and its supplier compliance agreements mandate compliance with applicable law, including these laws and regulations.

History

The company was founded in 1978. It was incorporated in the state of Delaware in 2011. The company was formerly known as WW Top Investment Corporation and changed its name to Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. in 2014.