Spokane, Washington, USA-based maker of work and casual boots with an extensive YouTube catalog of making videos
Nicks publishes an unusual amount of information about its production process, including extensive information about its lasts and materials.
Nicks was founded by a former worker at White’s, and was for a time owned by Frank Petrilli, now of Frank’s.
Production
uses stitchdown construction, primarily with Rapid E machines
made combination stitchdown-Blake boots as well as some welted boots in the past
Constructions
Nicks produces boots and shoes in three main constructions:
Most Nicks boots are hybrid stitchdown and nailed construction, with the vamps slashed, turned out, and stitched down around from just behind the joints around the foreparts, with clinching nails through the waists and heels. Most boots get two rows of stitching through vamp, midsole, and outsole. A few casual “heritage” models get just one row. Work boots with wedge and other unit soles are stitched down through vamp and midsole, with the outsoles cemented.
In the early 2020s, Nicks added “365 construction” for a sub-line of work boots. These boots are lasted on rubber rather than leather insoles, with allowances for thick leather lay-in footbeds. They are turned out and stitched down all the way around, including the waists and heels, and bottomed with Vibram unit outsole-heel combinations.
Fitting
Nick stocks a vast array of lasts in different length-width combinations.