Before, he built nuclear detectors. Now, he’s making cowboy boots.
Before, he built nuclear detectors. Now, he’s making cowboy boots.
“My Economy” tells the story of the new economic normal through the eyes of people trying to make it, because we know the only numbers that really matter are the ones in your economy.
Steve Christo is the owner of Perrin Creek Custom Cowboy Boots in Gloucester, Virginia. Christo makes handmade, bespoke cowboy boots in his workshop and has been doing so full time for six years.
A pair of his boots can run between $2,200 and $3,500, depending on the complexity of the design. While the price of leather has gone up since the pandemic, Christo said he hasn’t adjusted his prices to account for it since labor is still his biggest cost. A single pair of boots can take up to a month to make from start to finish.
Before getting into boot-making, Christo worked as a technologist in a physics laboratory. He took early retirement from his last job to get into the boot business.
“I thought, ‘Well, if I can build nuclear detectors, I should be able to make a boot.'”
To hear the rest of Christo’s story, click the audio player above.
Let us know how your economy is doing using the form below, and your story may be featured on a future edition of “My Economy.”
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
