Jennifer Lopez, Kevin Costner, Jeff Bezos, and Lauren Sanchez helped to put the Western wear store Kemo Sabe in the news over the holidays, by dropping by the Aspen outpost for a little shopping and a few drinks.
In turn, the company’s site and social media saw a jump, first after the notables paid their respective visits, according to president Wendy Kunkle. The reality is celebrities have been frequenting Kemo Sabe’s Aspen store for 35 years. “But they seem to be talked about more, because of social media. There’s this frenzy in Aspen. There are always celebrities around and ‘paparazzis’ running around. The paparazzi are always lurking around our store around the holidays,” she said.
Lopez, Costner and a few others made the rounds one day, and the Amazon founder and his fiancé Sanchez stopped in another day. The VIPs “were shopping, having drinks and just relaxing. We’ve known Jeff Bezos for almost 20 years. He’s become a friend. We try to have him up annually over Christmas with his family. We love having them. They’re just wonderful human beings.”
Hats are a popular item in the Aspen store.
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Boots and hats were among the items the notables were shopping for. Bezos is such a fan, he and his Blue Origin crew took Kemo Sabe hats, boots and buckles on their space journey last year. Despite that connection, Kemo Sabe has no plans to open a shop via Amazon. “Oh gosh, no, I’m not that savvy,” Kunkle laughed. “We’re just friends. No, no, I can’t handle that. That’s too much pressure.”
While Beyoncé helped to make cowboy boots a fashion trend with non-equestrians, the interest in Western wear has been building since before 2020, according to Kunkle. The global Western wear market is expected to hit $185.1 billion by 2032 compared to $112.6 billion in 2023, according to Brainy Insights.
“People are just interested in getting back to the roots,” she said. “We’re helping the industry find its way by being more fashion-driven than [traditional] western. We’re not about rhinestones, but longtime wear for items that can be worn every day. We have timeless items that go with everything. You can have a gorgeous pair of boots to wear with your Prada black dress.”
Sounding a little hoarse Friday morning, Kunkle said some holiday shoppers waited more than an hour just to get in the door. The crowd control is driven by the retailer’s commitment to assigning one salesperson per group. Lines have become more routine during peak seasons like the holidays ever since the pandemic shutdown prompted the migration of many city dwellers to more rustic and mountainous towns like Aspen. At Kemo Sabe, patrons can choose to have their company logo inscribed on a belt buckle, “pay homage to their dad” or whatever else they would like, she said. With its own silversmith in Gainesville, Texas, the company makes its own buckles, money clips, bolo ties, hat pins and other silver items. There is also a production facility in El Paso, Texas, to make the brand’s boots.
Shoppers are encouraged to customize their purchases.
Photo by Anna Stonehouse/Courtesy Kemo Sabe
Kemo Sabe now has 196 employees — a sizable jump from the 38-person team that existed when Kunkle, her brother Bobby and Andrew Wilson bought the company in 2020. Executives declined to share annual sales or the average individual purchase. Kemo Sabe’s other freestanding stores are in Vail, Colo.; Jackson Hole, Wyo.; Park City, Utah; Round Top, Tex., and Whitefish, Mont. To help make the VIPs feel at ease, Kemo Sabe opened an event space — a mezzanine-level bar — in 2017 so that they could hang out without a crowd. Others are booking it for bachelorette and birthday parties and corporate events. Liquor laws in different states have made serving alcohol in certain Kemo Sabe locales a little tricky thus far, according to Kunkle.
Some customers waited an hour to get into the Aspen location over the holidays.
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The company also has pop-ups including a monthlong one in New York City last September. During New York Fashion Week, that outpost got a lot of attention when Bella Hadid and her National Cutting Horse Association Hall of Famer boyfriend Adan Banuelos showed off their horse cutting skills in the street in front of the entrance. “We had the best party in New York City. It was crazy — horses out front, celebrities everywhere. It wasn’t just our party. We were just adjacent with the party,” Kunkle said. (The celebration was for the premiere of the short film “Horse Sense,” part of Teton Ridge’s six-part series “Window to the West.”)
The retailer offers thousands of items including many one-of-a-kind styles.
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Next up, Kemo Sabe is launching folding knives and kitchen knives, and the company is focusing on offering more branded items like T-shirts, which shoppers routinely ask for. Kunkle credits Kemo Sabe’s well-informed and attentive customer service for making the store a destination. There are also thousands of items, many of which are one-of-a-kind, and customers are encouraged to customize their looks whether that be shortening a hat’s brim or anything else to ensure they get plenty of wear wherever they live.
A 25-year veteran of Kemo Sabe, Kunkle said, “I love to work. Work is not a bad word. It’s fun. We’re all having a really good time. From top to bottom, we make sure our employees are happy. We want to make sure we’re having as much fun as those customers coming in the door. It’s very important to me that our employees are happy, healthy, having a good time and living their best life.”
As an added incentive, Kemo Sabe shoppers can order “The Wendy Kunkle,” a tequila, water and lime juice.
