I have driven by Las Palmas Western Wear, 600 W. Mitchell St., hundreds of times, and finally, last week, I stopped in. I am always vaguely interested in cowgirl boots and attire, and at the very least, I thought I might get an OnMilwaukee.com article out of the experience. Turns out, I did.
Juan Ordaz is a single father with two kids attending college, so the success of his family business, Las Palmas Western Wear, is crucial.
"I have two kids at UWM, so I'm here every day," says Ordaz.
In 1996, Ordaz opened Las Palmas after owning a grocery store in the neighborhood.
The shop is lively and filled with merchandise. Numerous taxidermied animals and hides adorn the walls, but Ordaz says he is not a hunter.
"I got those in Minnesota," he says.
Las Palmas has a large selection of cowboy / cowgirl boots from Mexico and Texas lining the walls. They range in price from $60 to $400 and come in a variety of different colors and styles, including green-and-black striped, bright blue, pale pink and classic brown.
Western and Guayabera shirts -- which are Mexican or Cuban embroidered men's shirts -- range in price from $25 to $35. The shop also offers hats, suits, women's clothing, vests, belt buckles, cassette tapes and cologne.
Las Palmas offers a large selection of kids' clothing, too, including tiny cowboy boots ranging in price from $25 to $65, formal suits and Western shirts.
"But lately business has been kinda slow," says Ordaz.
Consequently, Ordaz says he is selling mostly cheaper items to his customers and has been trying to amp up his boot and hat repair / tailoring business. Recently, he hired an employee to help out with the repair work. Las Palmas has a full workshop in the basement.
"It is nice to have some help," he says.
Ordaz moved to Texas before relocating to Milwaukee in the ‘80s. He named both his grocery store and his Western wear shop Las Palmas because he misses tropical trees in Milwaukee's northern climate.
"You don't see palm trees in Wisconsin, so I put some palms here to see if they might grow," he says.
Ordaz is the father of four children, ages 19, 18, 16 and 13. The older kids help out in the shop and his son, Juan Ordaz, Jr., is in the hardworking mariachi band, Real Azteca.
Ordaz says, for the most part, he likes having his business on Historic Mitchell Street. Occasionally, he says, he has to deal with problem customers, but most of the time, he enjoys the locale.
"Things are good on Mitchell Street," he says.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
