Double-H Boots
Encyclopedia
Double-H Boots manufactures western footwear. It is owned by H.H. Brown, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,...

.

History

Double-H Boots began in 1955 in Richland, Pennsylvania
Richland, Pennsylvania
Richland is a borough in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Lebanon, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,508 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Richland is located at ....

. The original factory location was an area shoe company that had other facilities in the Reading
Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,...

 area and had no future needs for the plant in Richland. The H.H. Brown Shoe Company purchased the building, looking for a location to manufacture western footwear.

The Richland facility was named the Richland Shoe Co. and began producing cowboy boot
Cowboy boot
Cowboy boots refer to a specific style of riding boot, historically worn by cowboys. They have a Cuban heel, rounded to pointed toe, high shaft, and, traditionally, no lacing...

s and work footwear. Shortly after production, a competitor introduced a new style called a "harness boot." H.H. Brown introduced a similar product called a "snoot Boot" and made it at Richland Shoe for a lower cost. For many years, it was almost the total production of the Richland plant.
Richland shared sales personnel with the Carolina Shoe Company and for some time had a single sales manager. The western side at Richland continued to grow and a separate sales force and management was created.

By the 1970s, western boots had become the majority of boots produced. The Richland plant was the first in the United States to manufacture western boots with a safety toe
Steel-toe boots
A steel-toe boot is a durable boot or shoe that has a protective reinforcement in the toe which protects the foot from falling objects or compression, usually it is combined with a mid sole plate to protect against punctures from below.Although traditionally made of steel, the reinforcement can...

, the first boots to pass the now standard Class 75 ANSI tests for safety footwear. When computerized fancy stitch machines hit the shoe market, the line expanded into the dress western boot business.
In 1981, it was necessary to expand again. A facility was located in Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania
Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania
Womelsdorf, named after John Womelsdorff, is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,599 at the 2000 census. The main thoroughfares through Womelsdorf are High Street, which runs east-west, and Route 419, which runs north-south. Route 422 runs along the...

, that was large enough for manufacturing and warehouse space. In 1993 the name was changed to Double-H Boots to reflect the company heritage of H.H. Brown.

Today, the majority of the work and dress western styles are still manufactured at the Womelsdorf facility. The casual and fashion lines of Double-H are produced overseas.

In the spring of 2002, Double-H Boots purchased the Acme Boot Company
Acme Boots
The Acme Shoe Company is a manufacturer of western footwear.-History:Acme Boots was founded in 1929, during the Great Depression. Two Chicago shoe manufacturers, Jessel Cohn and his son, Sidney, decided to move their children’s and infants' shoemaking plant from Chicago, Illinois to Clarksville,...

 and rolled out a new line of men's, women's and children's boots under the Acme name.

In 1995, Double-H debuted the Sonora line of western inspired fashion footwear for women. Sonora is a seasonal fashion line with launches twice a year. Plans are to expand the line to include men’s fashion boots in 2006.

Double-H continues a relationship started in 1997 with the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) organization and sponsors several bull riders and rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...

athletes. Double-H is also affiliated with national and local rodeo associations and events.

External links

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