Business boot camp

FSB's makeover squad helps a shoemaking couple chart a growth plan.

By Mina Kimes

EL PASO (FORTUNE Small Business) -- In the cutting room of a footwear company called Caboots, Arturo Estrada, a 70-year-old master craftsman, labors over a swatch of calfskin leather. As Estrada incises a delicate rose into the boot's vamp (the piece that fits over the top of the foot), Caboots CEO Joey Sanchez looks on with pride.

"Arturo has been doing this for decades," says Sanchez, 42, who runs the El Paso-based firm with his wife, Priscilla, 43.

Sanchez is familiar with the artisan's tradition. As a kid, he scampered around the factory of his parents' custom-boot company (which Caboots acquired this year after Sanchez's parents retired). The family shoemaking legacy dates back to Joey's great-grandfather, a Mexican immigrant who did repair work for major companies such as Justin Boots.

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