Shop now, or forever hold our cash: Texas Junk Company closing

Bob Novotney chats with customers at Texas Junk Company, which may be leaving its longtime Montrose location, at 215 Welch, on Oct. 1. Bob Novotney chats with customers at Texas Junk Company, which may be leaving its longtime Montrose location, at 215 Welch, on Oct. 1. Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 33 Caption Close Shop now, or forever hold our cash: Texas Junk Company closing 1 / 33 Back to Gallery

For the Texas Junk Company, the end is here.

The store, a longtime provider of well-worn boots to Houstonians or those who want to dress like one, is shutting down today. Owner Bob Novotney was told in September that he needs to vacate his 215 Welch location in Montrose.

Novotney announced on the store's Facebook page Saturday morning that closing was at hand. The shop will shut down at 6 p.m.

READ MORE: Texas Junk Company sells boots, so much more

The store is known for its expansive supply of used boots, but plenty of Houstonians know the store as a source of a whole lot more: tennis racquets and animal skulls, gently used jeans and picture frames, Texana items and old light fixtures.

Novotney wrote on Facebook that he's been sued to vacate the store and had a court date on Friday. Apparently, it didn't go well.

But, Novotney wrote, he's been shopping and will have a fresh stock of used boots when the new place in Moulton opens.

READ MORE: A treasure trove of junk

Novotney has operated his store here for 37 years and said that he'll soon be 68 years old and had been planning to slow down, travel and take in a little more of the country life. The increasing number of townhomes built all around him have been a big clue that life here is changing, prompting Novotney to consider some changes of his own.

Several years ago he bought 27 acres just outside of Moulton in Lavaca County. Moulton, a city of less than 1,000 people, is about a two-hour drive from Houston on I-10. He also spotted an empty storefront in downtown Moulton, the site of a sizable hardware store at 121 N. Main.

Novotney said on Facebook he's unsure when the store in Moulton will open. The Houston store had been open since since 1979 and the boot business part of the enterprise took off in 1995.

READ MORE: What are you calling junk?

People have come to his store from all over, mostly because of a chance encounter between two young women in New York, he said. One was a Houston native and the other asked where she'd gotten her boots.

"Texas Junk Company, in my hometown," she replied. The other young woman was an editor at Lucky magazine and immediately did a short feature on the store.

READ MORE: If the boot fits, wear it.

He's sold plenty of things to regular folks, but celebrities stop in, too. Boxer-businessman George Foreman bought a whole pile of inner tubes once, and accidentally left his dry cleaning behind while trying to make room in his trunk.

In recent months, Novotney has been making frequent trips to Moulton, taking a carload of boxes with him on each trip. When his Houston store got messy, he said, it was easier "to pack it up instead of clean it up."