The Sporting District

OUR ARTICLE

We wish we could tell you that we were the original field guide to point your compasses towards San Antonio’s Sporting District, but that’d be about as wrong as shot of well tequila in the blistering summer heat. In 1911, a guide book was published reading, “The Blue Book: For visitors, tourists and those seeking a good time while in San Antonio.” And by good time, they weren’t referring to the style and essentials that the modern-day store with the same moniker has to offer.

Inside the shop and painted over an exposed brick wall is the store’s distinguished symbol: a gentleman of the past, one who wore a thick mustache with pride and never left the house without a cigarette in hand.

The publication was a manual to San Antonio’s sporting district, which in the early 1900s was one of our nation’s most prevalent red-light neighborhoods, a bronze sheriff’s star only to New Orleans’s Storyville and San Francisco’s Barbary Coast.  The men’s shop now makes camp in the city’s renovated Pearl Brewery and is merely a nod to the skeletons buried deep in San Antonio’s notorious yet entertaining closet.

The shop is geared towards gentlemen who don’t mind getting their boots dirty but do prefer a polished appearance. Like the old bare-knuckle boxing rings, shirts come off, hands go up. It’s for the fellows who are men, not boys, and prefer provisions that not only make them look the part but also make them feel like the sophisticated badass that they are.

From toe-cap American-made boots to Silver Belly Stetsons, the shop is coated with a Southern drawl and a craftsman’s touch. Our CYTIES pickup: their camp hero’s Texas beaded belt — hand-sewn full grain leather, tan cowhide whipstitching, and the words “Texas” in red beads. It leaves zero doubt that you’ve at least visited the Alamo City.

Inside the shop and painted over an exposed brick wall is the store’s distinguished symbol: a gentleman of the past, one who wore a thick mustache with pride and never left the house without a cigarette in hand. It’s a calling card for the store, dyed in the wool that breathes a past life into the shop walls and wooden casings. Displayed on these walls and well-crafted tables are essentials like men’s grooming products, hunting gear, and whiskey flasks.

The original Sporting District of San Antonio was a hideout for outlaws like Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid. So, as you make your way into the shop, walk around with a strong jaw, your back straight, and unprecedented amount of confidence. Imagine you’re Paul Newman and Robert Redford — better yet, imagine you are Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Looking your sharpest like they always did, booting up for one more romance, one more bank, one last ride.