Olathe Boot Company
- Headquarters
- Mercedes, TX
- Manufacturing
- Mercedes, TX
- Categories
- boots-and-work-footwear
Olathe traces itself to C.H. Hyer, who began making boots in Olathe, Kansas, in 1875 and whose measuring chart let customers across the country order boots by mail. The name is Kansan; the boots are not, and have not been since 2001. The company changed hands several times after the Hyer family sold it in the 1970s, and in February 2001 Western Leather Goods — the family-owned maker of Rios of Mercedes and Anderson Bean boots — bought its assets and moved production to its own factory in Mercedes, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley. The Kansas plant did not come with it.
Mercedes is where the boots are made today. Olathe says so in its own words (“All of our boots are made by hand in Mercedes, Texas”), the business press has described Olathe boots coming off the Mercedes factory floor as recently as 2023, and federal workplace records place the parent company’s footwear plants on Industrial Drive and East Expressway 83 there.
The mark is the second rather than the top because of the leather. Olathe does not say where its leathers come from, and the Rios of Mercedes boots built in the same factory use exotic skins their maker says are imported. The building of the boot happens in Mercedes; the leather is not placed.
A 2014 trade-press profile of the parent company reported that the Cowboy Collection by Olathe, a lower-priced line introduced in 2009, was made in Mexico, and western-wear dealers were still selling boots under that name in 2025. Olathe’s own site no longer lists the Cowboy Collection and says all of its boots are made in Mercedes; this record goes by the brand’s current word. Olathe does not sell direct, and its own style pages carry no origin line of their own, so no individual boot is listed below. A dealer listing that says “handmade in Mercedes, Texas” is the thing to look for.
A separate brand, Hyer Boots, revived the Hyer name in 2023 and is made in Mexico. It is not Olathe and is not covered by this record.
Domain record
olatheboots.com was registered on .It dates the domain, not the business: a maker that moved to a new address reads young here, and an old domain says nothing about who holds it now.
RDAP registry record · checked 27 Sep 2026
The record
Olathe Boot Company says it was bought by Western Leather Goods in 2001 and that all its boots are made by hand in Mercedes, Texas
“Olathe Boot Company was purchased in 2001 by Western Leather Goods, the same good people that make Rios of Mercedes and Anderson Bean boots. All of our boots are made by hand in Mercedes, Texas.”
olatheboots.comRetrieved
Trade press reported that Western Leather Goods bought Olathe Boot's assets in February 2001 and moved production from Olathe, Kansas, to Mercedes, Texas
“Finally the decision was made for Western Leather Goods to buy certain assets from Olathe Boot Company and move production to Mercedes, Texas. The transaction was completed in February of 2001 and production moved immediately to Mercedes, Texas.”
texasborderbusiness.comRetrieved
The same report says a lower-priced Olathe line, the Cowboy Collection, is made in Mexico
“The Cowboy Collection by Olathe was introduced at the Denver Market in January 2009. The Cowboy Collection is an extremely high quality; all leather cowboy boot made in Mexico by one of the finest boot makers there and can stand comparison with anything made in the United States.”
texasborderbusiness.comRetrieved
A 2019 business-press profile describes Olathe boots being made on the Mercedes factory floor, alongside an imported line the company ships
“Rios of Mercedes also has a partnership with a Mexican boot company and ships out 100,000 pairs of the imported boots to go with the 70,000 pairs made locally. “Our heart is in making stuff,” Vaughan said in the midst of a busy factory floor where the Anderson Bean and Olathe boots are made.”
valleybusinessreport.comRetrieved
OSHA records two Western Leather Goods footwear-manufacturing sites in Mercedes, Texas
“Western Leather Goods, Inc. 322 Industrial Dr Mercedes, TX 78570”
osha.govRetrieved
A 2023 feature names Olathe Boots among the brands built by the Mercedes team
“Together with his wife, Jodi, they lead a team of craftsmen and artisans that help build their brands of boots, including Anderson Bean and Olathe Boots.”
thetexasbucketlist.comRetrieved