December 26, 2018 | By Jaymi Firestone

Skinner’s Western Wear is one of Portales’ longest standing businesses. In fact, it may hold the title for the oldest business in town. That is quite a title to hold when businesses come and go throughout the years.

Skinner’s has held the test of time!

San Skinner, the current owner, took over the business for his father in the early 80s, and has been the owner of the store for nearly 4 decades. That’s because boot making is in his blood.

John W. Skinner, San’s grandfather, opened the store in Portales in 1923, after following in his own father’s footsteps, who originally began making boots in Carrizozo in 1900.

The Skinner family has been making boots since before New Mexico was even a state. And the Skinners store in Portales has offered those specially crafted, handmade boots since the doors to the building opened just 11 short years after.

The building where Skinners stands now is one that John purchased in the 1920s

There are still pieces of history in the store today that are original. The sewing machines, leather stitcher, and other boot making machines are in the basement, and have been since John purchased them between its opening and the 1950s.

Leather Stitcher used to sew together pieces of leather to form the boots, as well as the beautiful designs in the leather.

The most unique bit of history found in the building is the shelves and shelves of wooden boot lasts. Boot lasts are the shapers that are used to stretch and form the leather into the correct fit and appearance.

For boot manufactures today, boot lasts come in plastic only. These wooden lasts are unique, and a piece of history that not many know are beneath the hardwood floors of the Western Wear store. These boot lasts have been used to make thousands of boots over the years.

San has gotten his boot-making skills from the generations before him, and has used it to create boots for not only his customers, but his family and friends.

The boots in the image below were a pair of exotics he made for his wife, Sherri. The foot of the boots were created from specially ordered Pirarucu skin (which comes from the fish, Arapaima, that is found is rivers like the Amazon). They are one-of-a-kind.

Many who live in the area don’t know the history behind the store that sits adjacent to the courthouse on the square. It’s a family-owned store that once burst at the seams with business (pun intended). The store has changed hours as the years have passed, but years ago, the square was so busy that foot traffic was known to stop in as late as 9 pm!

Owning a handmade pair of Skinners boots is owning a piece of Portales history. The hands that made those boots have perfected the art of boot making over the years, and passed it down to the generations after.

Skinners Western Wear is still pleased to serve the community of Portales, and if the power is out, it might just be the only place in town that could still take your order, because they still use the original cash register that was put in the store.

So stop in sometime, and have San form you a felt hat, or stitch you a beautiful pair of handmade boots. You’ll be glad you did, because you’ll own a piece of Portales history.