Inside One of the Biggest Western Stores in the World | Lou Taubert Ranch Outfitters

There's your Levi 501 Shrink-to-Fits. There are 10,000 pairs of jeans. Size 60 by 30. In every size you can imagine. That's a 29 by 44. I have it in regular fit and slim fit. If I can't fit you, I don't know that you can be fit. And if I don't have it and they make it, I'll get it. Welcome to Lou Taubert Ranch Outfitters. Oh man, I got over it. 10,000 pair of jeans, probably more than that. I got 10,000 pair of boots, so men's, women's, and children's, so jeans, I don't know. Maybe one of these days when I have time, I'll count them. Nine floors of virtually any kind of Western wear and cowboy gear you can think of. You find bigger boot stores and maybe bigger hat stores, but a complete Western store that carries men's, women's, and children's, and tack and saddlery, I think. There sure wouldn't be many. This third generation family business. An institution in downtown Casper, Wyoming began more than a hundred years ago in Germany. This would be my grandfather right here. A young Kurt Topper dreamed of going to America and being a cowboy. He ran away from home and I think he was 14 or 15. Born in 1890, Kurt was working on a cargo ship as a 16-year-old, sailing to Africa and other ports before finally arriving in America in 1910. From New York, he got on a prairie schooner, headed to Wyoming, and he got off and worked for the Swan Land and Livestock Company, a big outfit back in that time. But the adventurous young man soon launched his own outfit in Fort Laramie, Wyoming. That was started in 1919. C.W. Taubert Hardware and Implements. Got you some old turpentine and gloves, harnesses, whatever it took. When C.W.'s son Lou returned home from World War II, the two became partners, moved the store to Casper, and gave it a new name. Lou Taubert Ranch Outfitters opened in 1947, prospered and grew. Down the line, we bought this old department store that was next to us here and broke a hole through the wall, and we kept expanding. I grew up as a little girl at five years old coming to work. Lou and his bride, Pauline, had six kids. We would straighten the jeans, empty the trash. Who all grew up in the business. Helping my dad and my mother. Run it today and wouldn't have it any other way. We are so blessed. We love what we do. Their dad passed away in 2000 at age 82, but his presence is felt here every day. I think about him all the time. There he is. He's watching over all of us here. Yes. We met Pauline when she was about to turn 98. Still going strong. Still going to work every day. As are her children. I don't know which good looking cowboy is me. Who speak often of their father. But our dad had us dressed to the nines. And love running the family legacy, he left them. I still drive this. Drove it to work this morning, this 1959 Ford pickup truck. It's all about merchandising, and I feel like I got that gift from my father. And I love to do the windows. Remember store windows? It's really your silent salesman. They're alive and well at Lou Toppert. We love taking that item out of the window and selling that item. It's really fun. It's been here as long as I've been here. It's got a great selection and great products. This family business is refreshingly old school. No computers. We had to put one in for UPS. But other than that, we don't have computers. All the inventories in our mind are our belly. And we take physical inventories. And the inventory is massive. We pride ourselves in having inventory. My dad always said he'd rather have money in inventory than money in the bank. Even the cash register is old school. Part of the mystique of the store is when you go to the register, these old ticket machines, they're probably 60 years old. There is a website, but you can't buy anything on it. We have no desire to sell online. It's a completely different business. We love the hands-on, the customer service, touch, feel, get to enjoy the person, get to know that person, count change back to them. Thank And see the rewards of them finding and selecting the perfect purchase. Lou Toppert is all about the personal touch and the personal fit. Our theory in our boot room is to try and fit boots other than sell them. Doesn't matter what you pay for a pair of boots. you. If it doesn't fit, it's not worth it. I think it's real important that a person get fit right. You know, to get fit right, you need to have the foot here. Even their advertising is decidedly low-tech. Billboards along Interstate 25. But they really work. So I bet I could look around and I can tell who might be from out of state and I'll ask them what brought them in and say, oh, your billboards did. For all the old school business techniques. This is a happening place. We stopped by on a summer weekday morning and the store was bustling with customers. We are jam-packed, but we are so blessed that people want to come to Wyoming. A lot of great local customers, but then we also have people from all over the country. I-25 is on the way to Yellowstone, and those billboards I told you about, bring them into town, and when they get here, I think they enjoy it. They enjoy the whole community. I feel like we're the salt It's the fault of the earth here, honor, respect. Enjoy the friendships, helping one another. It's a beautiful, beautiful country. Wyoming's wonderful, wonderful Wyoming. And the spirit of this family that runs this place is warm, welcoming, and infectious. We all get along pretty well. It's a pretty amazing family. I guess our dad and mom brought us up right. We don't seem to have any problems. Plus, this is a very cool store. There's something for everybody in this store. Something for everybody, yes. For the ladies, there's Cowgirl by Lou Toppert. I don't know of anybody that devotes 5,000 square feet to a really nice ladies' western department. You don't even have to be totally western to shop up here. We have a lot of mainstream gift ideas, beautiful blouses, great denim department like you won't even find anywhere. There's an entire floor for the working cowboy. Head stalls, bits, tack, saddles. Billy Cook has been my saddle of choice. Chaps and ropes. More or less, I trade them. Even used ones. A lot of tourists like them. A lot of these guys wear ropes out. I always joke with them. If they can't catch with them, they bring them in and think it's the rope's fault. Downstairs, there's an immense selection of cowboy hats. We carry over 100 styles of hats. With an expert who can shape that new hat any way you like. Plus, a fun kids department and outdoor gear as well. Different type of customer, but it doesn't mean that a cowboy is not going to want a pair of hiking boots. In a century-old business that's always being tweaked and improved. Underneath the carpet, we found the old maple hardwood floors, so we've redone that. A living legacy of that courageous grandfather and a beloved dad. He didn't have a lot of pleasures. He didn't play golf. He didn't go on vacations. Questions? His pleasure was being at work trying to make it better. He liked what he did and he worked hard. And his kids still do. We still enjoy coming to work every morning. You just immerse yourself into this wonderful, beautiful store that my father and grandfather created. As long as we want to stay here, we're going to be here. And we still like what we do, so it's going to be a while.