Ryan Ricca has been coming to Ricca Boot Shop since he was 4 years old to visit his grandfather at the store. He started playing with shoes and taking them apart, and developed an interest in shoemaking. When he was a teenager, with the help of his grandfather, he sought the expertise of a Texas boot maker to learn the trade.

Ricca now runs the store on West Main Street in Tomball, which his family has operated since 1976. Ricca makes custom boots for men and women and has recently started making men's dress shoes.

The boots and shoes are custom-designed, handcrafted and hand-sewn by Ricca using leather and wood pegs.

Ricca fits each boot perfectly to the customer by taking a "last," or mold of the customer's feet and taking several measurements.

"There's pretty much no breaking them in because it's already made for their foot," he said.

Ricca has been so busy with boot orders that he recently had to close the store just to catch up on all the back orders. He was back ordered by a year.

"I locked the doors, blackened out the windows, ignored the phones and worked on boots," Ricca said. "I worked on appointment only just so I could get caught up on boot orders. Now, I'm only back ordered by four months."

Ricca does not just work a typical schedule. He often works on boots throughout the night and on the weekends.

Ricca's grandfather Sam Ricca first opened a shoe repair store on Congress Street in downtown Houston.

Sam and his wife, Marie, opened Ricca Boot Shop when Tomball was primarily farms and pastures, Ricca said. Sam Ricca mostly repaired boots and shoes.

"He decided the city was getting too big, so he came to Tomball," Ricca said. "Everybody loved grandpa. Business has always been good."

Shoe, boot making and repairing are part of Ricca's extended family also. His cousin made boots for Roy Rogers, and his uncle owned a shop as well, he said.

In addition to the custom boots and shoes, Ricca also offers custom holsters and belts.

Ricca works with customers to custom design the boots, or he can create a design for the customers. Customers can choose the type and color of the leather and the stitching.

"All boot tops are stitched on a vintage single needle sewing machine one row at a time," Ricca said.

Ricca made boots for one customer, who is a member of the Safari Club International, using the skin of an 11-foot alligator he had hunted and killed.

"I had to use the armpits because he was so big," he said.

It typically takes Ricca a week to make a pair of boots, which start at $1,850, but sometimes it can take a month, he said. It took him a month to make a pair of red boots with a yellow lightning bolt on the front for his son, who is now 6.

"He outgrew them in three weeks," Ricca said.

A year ago, Ricca spent two weeks in Ashland, Ore. to learn how to make men's dress shoes. Those start at $1,525. He said one day he might learn how to make women's pumps or stilettos.

"We'll save that for later," he said. "I have so much to do right now."

Ricca Boot Shop 103 W. Main St., Tomball 281-255-6067, www.riccabootshop.com