Our Story
Our story isn't some glamorous Hollywood tale. We aren't fifth generation retailers. And we don't come from money. It is a story of God's grace, family, and lots of hard work.
In early 2007 we decided to open our own western store. Robert, Patrick and Thomas had each worked in the industry for other retailers and were now ready to give it a go on their own. We inspected virtually every existing commercial location from Waskom, Texas to Vicksburg, Mississippi but finally settled on Ruston, Louisiana as the most logical place for a western store. There weren't any similar stores in town and Ruston was just far enough from the major stores in Monroe and Shreveport to have a chance.
It took us several months to find a halfway suitable location and get it remodeled. On June 26th of 2007 we officially swung our doors open for business. And we haven't looked back since.
In 2007 we added almost every major western brand to our mix and a number of fashion brands that were very popular at that time - Big Star, Lucky Brand and Old Gringo Boots.
In early 2008 we decided to expand our operations into the Lake Charles market. Initially we thought our expansion would involve an acquisition but eventually we decided to start from scratch. Again, our search for a suitable location consumed dozens of tanks of gasoline and diesel but finally we found our location right in the heart of Lake Charles on Ryan Street. And in June of 2008 after several months of renovations we opened the doors on our second location.
In November of 2009 we relocated our Lake Charles store to its new home at 3620 Ryan Street. With this move we increased our square footage in Lake Charles to over 9000 square feet.
In June of 2010 we moved our original Ruston store to its new home at 814 N. Trenton Street in Ruston. We had simply outgrown our old building and couldn't pass up the chance to move to a 13,000 square foot space. It's hard to imagine that in just three years we've grown from a single 1800 sq. ft. location to two modern retail stores featuring one of the most diverse brand mixes in the country. You never know what you might find when you shop at Patton's!
In 2012 we made a really bold move and acquired a small shop in Downtown Ruston called Perry Outfitters. Our youngest brother David was tasked with leading this new venture. We renamed this shop Patton’s Downtown and became one of the first western retailers in the country to hold brand relationships with Southern Marsh, Patagonia and The North Face. Our “Southern Lifestyle Outfitters” approach grew out of this space and eventually became a major part of all of our stores.
In 2015 we opened our fourth location in Shreveport. In 2018 our Shreveport store relocated to its current home in Pierremont Mall; one of the oldest specialty indoor malls in the region.
Throughout this process we've learned a number of valuable lessons but one that matters more than all the rest. God is good all the time. He has blessed us more than we could ever deserve or imagine. We hope you've learned this lesson too.
Come see us!
The Patton Brothers
Harvey, Robert, Thomas, Patrick, David
