Boot Barn, which expects to end its FY22 in March with 300 doors nationwide, says its new locations in the Northeast are “outperforming expectations” with cannibalization coming in less than anticipated. New 10,000-sq.ft. stores open since March 2020 are generating Year 1 sales of $4.0 million versus $1.7 million for existing locations, generating a 100 percent cash on cash return versus 30 percent for older doors and providing a payback in less than a year. Going forward, as its drives toward 500 brick-and-mortar locations, BOOT senior management, speaking at the annual ICR Conference Monday, anticipates future store metrics “somewhere in the middle” of current and past figures.

Boot Barn’s improved metrics in recent years have been driven, in part, by its 2013 decision to broaden its customer base beyond its legacy base through additional private label and branded merchandise and focused marketing. Part of the result has been a 80-90 percent improvement in merchandise margins, a same store sales increase of 11 percent and annual EPS growth of 40 percent. Three of the retailers Top Five brands are house labels in Cody James, Shyanne and Idyllwind. Ariat leads the Top Five group at Boot Barn — also on the list is Wrangler.