After 20 years of selling custom leather boots at 323 10th St., and engaging the leather, biker and ki communities through in-store events, community benefits and more, Stompers Boots is leaving San Francisco.
"The real estate market has experienced a boom like no other, and many businesses have suffered from high rental rates that have made it extremely difficult to keep a small business in the Bay Area," the company's CEO Randall Klett said on Facebook while announcing the closure on Sunday, Feb. 21st. "Unfortunately, Stompers has also been affected by these changes, and has therefore made the incredibly difficult decision to pull our store from San Francisco and relocate to Ft. Lauderdale effective today February 21, 2016."
The company will continue operating online at www.stompersboots.com, and is relocating the brick-and-mortar shop to Fort Lauderdale "as quickly as humanly possible."
Tipster Peter H., who alerted us to the closure, called it "a sad day for the leather community and boot fans in general."
But there are signs that the city's leather community isn't being pushed out of Western SoMa entirely. Build Inc. and the San Francisco Eagle are coming closer to finalizing plans for a public plaza honoring the neighborhood's heritage as a gathering place for the leather community. The annual Mr. SF Leather competition is also just around the corner, and we hear it'll be bigger than ever this year. More on that to come.
