Our History

A Chaotic Start – The Hardy’s -circa 2005

In 2005, Kevin Hardy, Cathy and Roland Hardy’s oldest son, decided that Boone NC needed a working man’s store. At the time, Boone had nothing of the sorts. They started discussions and BOOM Cathy and Roland opened MO’s. However, originally, we only sold Rocky boots. MO’s was going to be named “The Rocky Connection”. Signs were made and boots were ordered! Now I know, you’re like “but it’s not named that, what happened?” Hold on… I’ll tell you. Keep reading!

Rocky got on the phone with Cathy and was pretty much like “hey I’m sorry our lawyers said you couldn’t name it that”……Okay cool no biggie! *insert nervous laughs and probably a few tears* The signs were already ordered and it was THREE DAYS away from Grand Opening! (Rocky, we get it. No hard feelings here and it worked out in their favor. All things happen for a reason!) Kevin was on his way to Florida for vacation with his wife, Beth, and daughter Olivia and called up his mom (Cathy) and said “Mom I’ve got it. Let’s call it “MO’s Boots”. Behold, MO’s Boots was born.

Now if you’re an old fan and friend of MO’s you probably already know what MO’s stands for but we have to tell the newbies! But first, family history!

Family History – Circa 1996, 2002 & later 2006.

I’ve already mentioned Cathy, Roland, Kevin, Beth and Olivia. But let’s introduce Kelly, Kim, Tim, Meghan and Annaston.

Okay, long story short, Cathy met Roland, fell in love and in 1977 they married. They have three children. Kevin, Kim and Kelly. Kim had the first granddaughter, Meghan, born in 1996. Kevin and Beth had the second granddaughter, Olivia, born in 2002. Now MO’s opened in 2005 so what’s significant about 2006?? Kim and Tim had a daughter, Annaston, born in 2006 almost 1 year after MO’s opened but we’ll get to her in a minute.

So anyway, Kevin’s on the phone with Cathy and goes “Meghan and Olivia. MO. MO’s Boots!” Perfect. MO’s Boots is born! Like I said, a year after opening Annaston came along hence circa 2006. Annaston is Meghan’s sister so she goes by “Sis” M + O +’S = MO’s. And that’s the story behind the name! Now let me tell you about Cathy and Roland aka the masterminds of all things business and life and family!

Cathy & Roland Hardy- A Letter

Our family’s favorite people.

Nanny, Pappaw, Mom, Dad, Friend, Husband, Wife. The list goes on. Truly the best people you’ll ever meet! Here’s a letter from them!

“We met and opened our first business, Hair Unlimited (later renamed The Commanders Hair & Tanning Salon) in Boone, NC in 1975. We got married in July of 1977. We were in the hair business for 22 years and then decided to begin a new adventure. Next, we added the operation of Pay-Lo Amoco and Ryder Truck Rentals in 1992. Smokes N’ More followed in 1998. During all this, we raised 3 kids while still managing to get to every school/sports event (there were hundreds if not thousands of them) between 1977 and 2000. In 2005, our oldest son Kevin decided that Boone needed a working man’s store and that was the beginning of MO’s Boots and Carhartt. Three days before we opened, we had to change the original name of the store. It was supposed to be “The Rocky Connection” because at the time our store was 95% Rocky Brands. Rocky wouldn’t let us name it that so our son Kevin decided on MO’s Boots.

Currently, we have three MO’s locations and have since sold Smokes N’ More. We now have 7 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren with a 5th on the way and try to attend many of their local events as well. Each of our kids-Kevin, Kim and Kelly have been involved in some part of our businesses throughout the years. We hope you have enjoyed learning a little bit about us and we hope to see you in the store sometime so we can get to know you personally!”