The guys in the rope section are really awesome & more than happy to help you find what you're…read morelooking for. My husband was looking for a specific hondo that no one really makes anymore (lol) and one of the fellas helped him find a suitable replacement. A nice gentleman named Mike tied it all together for him and the lady who packed it up for shipping (her name escapes me and I'm embarrassed about that, since she was so funny and cool) tallied up the shipping on the ropes so we could leave the ropes with her and pay up front.
Also, Joe, who measured my husband for his leggins, did a really thorough job, measuring in all the right places and allowing for bend. My husband actually uses his chaps and leggins, so it's important that they're measured correctly. Be aware that the waiting list is about one year out. We won't have them in hand for a while, but I have no doubt they'll be good!
As always, the museum is fun to see. You could go 100x and see something new every time. It's a wonderful place to visit whether you're a "catalog cowboy" or an actual horseman/cowboy. Lots of history and lots of beautiful things that King's shares with us that might never otherwise be seen...so don't forget to put a few dollars in the donation box.
When I visited a few years ago, the retail staff was AMAZING. A lady named Fleur helped me with a lot of gifts to send home and was really friendly. She'd recognized my husband from his working on a ranch near town YEARS before (like, a decade) and had some funny stories that he probably didn't want me to hear. There was another woman working there at the time who was also very helpful when I came in on the second day to get a few things for myself.
This time, things were a just little different.
On the first day, a generally nice young woman assisted my husband in a purchase of a pair of conchos. When he was asking to see them, he was trying to remember the animal carved in them (Hey, went getting older.) and the girl starts talking over him saying "CONCHOS. THEY'RE CONCHOS" and rolling her eyes. My husband is patient, friendly, and never takes offense at much, but her attitude just irked me. Her attitude reminded me of some of the guys I worked with in surf shops in my hometown during the summer as kids: a little "edge-lordy" and sort of bothered by anyone they deemed unworthy or not a "real" surfer.
Maybe I'm reading too much into it, as my husband was completely unbothered. My point is, don't be surprised to encounter that faintly shitty and stuck up air if you're looking at stuff behind the glass. I walked out, but per my husband, things got massively better and the gal helped him find the name of the maker and the source of the conchos. (CONCHOS! Remember? THEY'RE CONCHOS! ). My husband was happy and that's all that really matters.
On the first day I just left without buying anything. I've been saving for over a year for this trip and for a visit to this specific store, so I was kind of disappointed. (I'd come for a saddle, but the saddle market being what it is, there wasn't anything on consignment that was what I was looking for. That's not a complaint! It's just what the consignment market is right now.) Anyway, a goose egg for me on the first day.
The second day, an older woman helped me with a pair of men's boots I'd been eyeing from the day before & hadn't gotten to try on. Despite me making a joke about socks & a boot Jack that fell TERRIBLY flat, she had me try the boots on. I've got sky high arches, narrow-ish heels, but I'm wide across the ball of my foot, but we were still thinking that the pair they had would still be too big for me.
Guess what? They fit! She came downstairs with me and rang them up, noting that she usually tells people that if they find a boot in that brand that fits (Olathe), they should buy them, because they're kind of hard to get. (And that's not a lie. Finding a pair to TRY ON vs. rolling the dice on the Internet is really hard, at least where I'm from.)
Overall, it was wonderful experience, as usual. I could've used a little more warmth from the kids at the counter, but let's face it, by this time of year, they're probably exhausted by tourists, tire kickers, and people who complain about the price of some of the higher quality good, because at its essence, King's is STILL a place where working men and women go to get their ropes, gloves, tack, saddles, etc. All of the other very, very pretty trappings; things that you want but don't necessarily need are there out of necessity. When your town gets "touristy," and people from "off" start making up a large part of your business, things can get kind of weird. (Speaking from experience.)
My point is, despite my nitpicking, this place is an institution and it shouldn't change one bit. Go. Enjoy it. Buy SOMETHING..:even if it's "just a hat" or even a pair of CONCHOS! THEY'RE CALLED CONCHOS!
