Last month, Prasad Reddy was deep in his element, attending the annual National Finals Rodeo and Cowboy Christmas gift expo in Las Vegas. The 10-day dual extravaganza draws upwards of 500,000 Western sport and lifestyle fans. It was another can’t-miss opportunity for the CEO of Twisted X Global Brands (TXGB) to meet face-to-face with thousands of end consumers who stopped by to peruse the company’s latest collections of Twisted X, Black Star, and Wrangler Footwear on display at seven retail partner booths.
“I love interacting with end consumers and learning what they like, what they’re looking for, and what they’re wearing,” Reddy says. “They give great input on our products. It’s very helpful.”
It never gets old for Reddy. His quest to gather feedback and data to help TXGB innovate, evolve, and adapt is relentless. What’s more, he’s been at it for 53 years and counting. Many execs would have clocked out by this time, opting for pickleball over attending gift expos in Sin City in the middle of the holiday season. Not Reddy. He’s not “reddy” to retire anytime soon. The way he sees it, TXGB is a young buck with a long and fruitful life ahead, and overseeing it helps keeps him young. Besides, pickleball is not Reddy’s cup of tea. “My body tells me that sport isn’t for me,” he laughs. “It’s much easier and more enjoyable to walk a trade show and speak with end consumers.”
TXGB trucked about 12,000 pairs to the expo and sold about half, a level consistent with previous years. Reddy, though, wasn’t there to wrangle sales; he was there for the reams of consumer feedback. That’s worth its weight in gold, he says. “Introducing our brands and styles to as many consumers as possible is a great marketing opportunity for us,” he says. This time, the opportunity included early reads on CellStretch Active, Feather X, and Calf Stretch collections debuting this year. The three athletic-based product innovations are the company’s latest efforts to introduce breakthrough technologies.
CellStretch Active and Feather X are Twisted X’s takes on a “Western sneaker.” The hybrid features the company’s patented CellStretch cushioning technology, which activates 100 individual points of comfort hidden in the heel and ball of the foot, all housed in country style. Call it street rodeo. Reddy says the initial response is promising. He hopes it will generate buzz in the marketplace, especially in women’s. “Casual lifestyle in men’s has been good of late, but the women’s side has been soft,” he says. “We’re hoping CellStretch Active and Feather X will help grow that segment this year.” That market can be a tough nut to crack because its customer base is very traditional and often resistant to change. “It can take some time to convince them of product innovations that appear different, but the reaction from people young and old at the expo was strong,” Reddy adds.
The same holds true for Calf Stretch, another hidden comfort technology that enables the boot shaft to stretch to accommodate a larger calf size. The technology is cleverly hidden underneath the pull-on loops at the top of the shaft. It’s like Spanx for boots. “A lot of women seek a better fit, but don’t want the boots to look any different,” Reddy explains. “They don’t want the boots to look bigger. Calf Stretch expands, but you can’t tell from the outside. We think there’s a huge potential market for this innovation.”
These product enhancements reflect TXGB’s longstanding commitment to introduce a new technology every six months. It’s all part of the company’s ongoing mission to improve every facet of its business. This extends to becoming a better corporate citizen. Sustainability and philanthropic ROIs aren’t always quantifiable, but Reddy believes in doing the right thing. It’s good karma, and it helps attract talent. A “terrific” team has coalesced around him since he took the helm 16 years ago, one he credits with driving double-digit growth over many of those years. That includes increasing sales by 50 percent during the pandemic, when TXGB bet on investing heavily in inventory while many competitors drastically cut back. When shelf space opened up, the company took full advantage. Indeed, TXGB has come a long way since it emerged from bankruptcy in 2008.
“We’re definitely in a lot better shape than when I arrived. More than anything, we’re better for the type of people who work with us now,” Reddy says. “We’ve been very fortunate to attract great people, and they tend to stick around.” The team is on the same page when it comes to TXGB’s mission to make a meaningful difference across its product categories and the communities it serves, he adds. “We’re all working toward the same goal, constantly trying to improve our efforts in sustainability, philanthropy, product development, and retail partnerships,” Reddy says. “It’s a great place to work. I’m very proud to say that. We learn and work together. It’s always evolving. We have to keep on moving forward.”
The company will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2025 with special product introductions, in-store events with long-time customers, and other celebratory tie-ins. It’s definitely a milestone worthy of acknowledgement, but Reddy’s team stays focused on the future, working diligently to innovate, evolve, and grow. He remains as bullish as ever. (The logo at the most recent sales meeting was a soaring eagle.) Reddy sees growth potential across the Western, work (the company’s fastest-growing segment of late), and streetwear categories. “Street retailers like our casual styles because of our Western flair. It’s something different and allows us to gain some shelf space within that tier,” he notes. Then there is the remaining two-thirds of the country that has largely yet to be introduced to TXGB’s brands. The increased distribution potential alone is “tremendous.” Perhaps it’s only fitting that one of Reddy’s favorite songs is the Carpenters’ classic “We’ve Only Just Begun.”
“We’re still a very young company,” Reddy says. “We have a long way to go.”
Happy 20th anniversary. What does that milestone mean to you?
For starters, it means we’re no longer teenagers and just entering adulthood. We have a long way ahead of us. That said, it’s a great achievement. We survived bankruptcy in 2008, the Financial Crisis, the retail apocalypse, a pandemic, etc., etc. We kept growing through all of that. I credit that entirely to our team. They kept working hard through all these difficult challenges and unknowns, and we stuck together and built this company. But we’ve only just begun.
A lot of execs say the business is more challenging of late compared to some past difficult stretches. Do you agree?
I don’t think any more so. Every year presents different sets of challenges. We just have to find ways to overcome them. The one thing we can’t do is stand still. If we do that then someone else is likely to pass us by. We have to keep finding ways to innovate, grow, adapt, evolve…whatever it takes to survive and thrive. In one sense, challenges are ok, because there are always opportunities as a result of them.
Like the decision to invest heavily in inventory after the pandemic hit?
Yes. We increased sales more than 50 percent from 2020 to 2022. We made the decision in March of 2020 to invest in inventory. Fortunately, we were in a strong financial position to do so, and we believed that the business would be there—that a lot of retailers would be low on inventory once their stores reopened. We also expanded our customer service department by 25 percent during that time because we expected that there would be increased demand. Retailers would be calling, and we wanted to take care of them properly. Fortunately, all those investments paid off very well.
Still, it was a big risk on your part.
Oh, for sure. A couple of our board members questioned my thinking, as did others in the industry. But when I explained our logic, our board agreed that it made sense. That doesn’t mean they would have done it themselves, though. But we never dreamed of that sales increase. I can’t take credit for that.
Speaking of growth, how was 2024 for TXGB?
It was a good year, but not great by any means. We’re happy with our double-digit sales growth, product innovations, and our community engagements. Our patented technologies, CellStretch Active, Feather X, and Calf Stretch, were developed over the course of the year and will debut in 2025. So, all in all, it was a pretty good year.
How much might the growing popularity of Western lifestyle play in TXGB’s growth?
People want to get back to their roots. We call it country lifestyle. It includes country music, which is so popular among a broad array of fans. There’s also the enormous popularity of shows like Yellowstone. Nashville has become one of the top tourist destinations. There’s also a population shift to states where the country lifestyle is more mainstream. It’s all contributing to the growing popularity of Western lifestyle trends. It’s a macro movement.
How much has the work category contributed to TXGB’s recent growth?
Work is our fastest-growing segment. Two years ago, we hired Kevin Barger as general manager of the division. His previous stops included Black Diamond (licensee for Carhartt) and Timberland Pro. He has brought along many of those distribution connections. Quite a few of those retailers had heard of Twisted X but they didn’t really know much about our products. Now we’re penetrating those markets with some big-name distributors. Many of them did tests last year and we feel 2025 is going to be another good year of growth in that segment.
Many would suggest that another avenue of growth for TXGB would be DTC. Yet you remain adamant on not going down that road. Why?
We absolutely won’t. While some of our competitors don’t like it when I sport my “No DTC” cap at trade shows, I strongly believe that if we’re to be true partners with our retailers—the ones who brought us to the dance—then we shouldn’t compete directly against them. Just look at the state of some brands that led with a DTC strategy. It’s not easy for them to expand into wholesale. Same goes for some wholesale brands that leaned heavily into the channel. I will add, though, that it can be frustrating at times because it’s not always been a two-way street in equal support. Some of our customers buy from brands that are heavily into DTC. But I also understand that they’re independent businesspeople and they need to do what they believe is best for their businesses.
Well, there are some valid arguments presented to selling DTC, like being able to present full collections, increasing sales and profits, cleaning out old inventory. It’s also a consumer expectation to be able to buy direct.
There is some truth in all of that. There are people who join our company, as well as plenty of industry associates, who often tell me that we’d increase our business 20 to 25 percent within 12 months if we went DTC. My response to all of them is that may be true, but how much business would we lose by doing so? Secondly, we don’t need to do that. We’re doing well. We’re growing. There are segments of the market that we haven’t yet even explored yet. Above all, we want to continue to grow with the values that we believe in. Not competing directly with our retail partners is a big part of our values system. So everyone in our company is clear on this point: adding a DTC channel is non-negotiable.
Pretty sure no public company could ever say no to a 20 percent growth opportunity within 12 months.
It’d be very tempting, for sure. But as a privately owned company, it’s not necessarily as tempting for us. First off, we don’t have to meet shareholder demands. We can keep on doing the right thing. So we won’t compromise our values to achieve those sales. Like I mentioned, we’re growing nicely and we don’t need to risk those relationships that we’ve worked so hard to build.
How much is no DTC part of the conversation when meeting with potential new accounts?
Very much so. We instruct our sales reps and management to make that part of the presentation right from the beginning. It’s part of our core values, which also include sustainability and philanthropy. We want to be true partners. A couple of years ago, Jim Conroy, the former CEO of Boot Barn, told us that we were a true partner and everyone else is a vendor. It’s nice that he made a point to recognize that. Of course, Boot Barn sells other brands, but I think they rewarded us with some more shelf space because of our unique partnership. Similarly, another one of our big customers told us recently that it tries to fill its needs first with our brands and then looks at others. And another important customer, who spoke at our recent sales meeting, noted how we became their number-one casual and work brand, and a key factor was our no DTC policy. They appreciated it very much and invested more in us. So I believe that we get a little bit more market share because of our refusal to sell DTC.
TXGB at least gets points for maintaining its integrity, which has played a key role in reaching its 20th anniversary, no?
I definitely believe so. Short-term approaches don’t work if it’s at the expense of long-term health.
What’s the biggest challenge facing the company this year?
The potential impact of tariffs, which look likely. Specifically, how we navigate whatever they might be. We can’t pass on the entire increase.
How much of your sourcing could be impacted?
A whole lot. China and Mexico account for 97 percent of our production. We source a bit in Myanmar and
El Salvador. So we could really be impacted.
What are you planning to do?
We’re looking at moving some production elsewhere, but footwear is hard to move, whereas apparel is much easier. We’ve talked to a few sourcing options. But other countries like Vietnam, India, and other BRICS countries…Trump is talking about possibly adding tariffs there, too. You won’t necessarily be able to run away from all of it. So that’s our biggest challenge for 2025. We’ll have to absorb some of those costs. If it’s a 10 percent tariff, we probably don’t have to pass on more than two to 2.5 percent of those costs to consumers. The factories will have to absorb some costs and we’ll have to take a hit on margins as well. But what happens usually when tariffs are applied is the local currency depreciates, and since we buy in dollars that helps offset some of those price increases. If we sell-in enough we can absorb most of that cost.
What if Trump issues 100 percent tariffs, like he’s threatened?
Then 2025 is going to be case of lots of lost sales across the entire industry. Casual shoe prices would likely rise from $100 to $130, and boots from $200 to around $270. That would be impossible to absorb entirely. And lots of consumers would pass on paying significantly more. Whatever the decision, the shoe industry will not be returning to the U.S. like Trump has suggested manufacturing jobs would as a result of tariffs. Nearly the entire industry, including materials and components, is based in Asia. It’s just not practical to move. That said, I think Trump will raise tariffs 10 percent on China and possibly 25 percent on Mexico. The caveat being there might be a lot of posturing and negotiating, and it might take a year or two to fully implement. He did that early in his first term, putting a 15 percent tariff on footwear from China and, eight months later, he cut that down by half. We just have to be prepared to deal with it again. We’re under the belief that it’s going to happen to some degree. We have a strategy in place for 10 percent already.
Is there a bright side amid all the disruption and war going on around the world?
I think our country is in a relatively great position right now. Yes, there is going to be some uncertainty with a new administration. But our economy is still strong, unemployment is low, and more jobs are being created. I think there are a lot of positives that we can be thankful for, and I expect it’s going to be a good year as a result. We all should at least give Trump the opportunity to try and make the improvements he claims he can make.
Where do you envision TXGB in three years?
Still innovating, evolving, and growing. Personally, I’m having as much fun as ever. It might be toward the end stage of my career, but I still love what I do and we’re having a lot of success. We’re making a difference, creating new products, and helping our communities. It’s all very rewarding.
What do you love most about your job?
It’s changed quite a bit over the years, but it’s lot of things. One is that I love that our company works as a team. We’re all like spokes in a wheel helping us roll forward. Everyone has the same values, is on the same page, and is committed to keep doing the right things in regard to best practices, product, sustainability, philanthropy, partnerships, etc. We’re all marching in the same band. I love that. Selling shoes is really a means to an end, but this is not the end. Family, faith, and friends are the most important aspects that stem from our hard work that makes money to support all of those important aspects of life. That’s what I love most. •
