Though Rick Walkers specializes in cowboy boots, the store carries a broad range of "Americana" goods, including clothes, accessories and other gear. Much of the stock is vintage, procured on consignment. In its hip Newbury Street location, in the heart of Boston, Rick Walkers caters to the emerging "urban cowboy" counterculture.
Outside the Rick Walkers entrance is a statue of an enormous cowboy boot. Inside, the store is decorated with authentic cow-skulls, a stuffed armadillo, a saddle and an enormous taxidermied rattlesnake. You'll also see the rock influence here: there are amps, cords, an acoustic guitar and even a honky-tonk piano. Every inch, it seems, of available wall space is occupied by retro advertisements, vintage posters and the like.
One Sunday per month, the store hosts a concert. Each begins with a featured guest and later evolves into a folksy, rocking jam -- Rick Walker (the proprieter) is himself an avid musician; his band is called "Blood, Sweat and Gears."
Though it bore another name prior to 2003, Rick Walkers and its nostalgic chic has long been a fixture of Back Bay, patronized by such notables as Melissa Etheridge and Jacob Dylan.