The King Ranch Saddle Shop, which will celebrate its 156th anniversary next month has been honored as one of the Lone Star State’s “Top 45” stores in Texas, according to ShopAcrossTexas .com, which released its annual Best Store List.

From a survey conducted on ShopAcrossTexas.com, 45 stores emerged with the “Top 45” brand.

The survey represents 45,000 Shop Across Texas devotees who submitted hundreds of their favorite Texas stores.

“We were surprised to find our followers voted almost exclusively this year for independent retailers,” said JoAnn Dealey, founder of the Shop Across Texas project.

The top retailer results range from the King Ranch Saddle Shop in Kingsville to Homestead in Fredericksburg to Neiman Marcus.

So, what is the formula for making the King Ranch Saddle Shop one of the top stores in Texas?

“Having a great team of employees to position the Saddle Shop as a leader of unique and quality products geared towards a ranch life- style,” Rose Morales, general manager, said.

“As soon as you step into the Saddle Shop you catch the scent of leather from the products on the floor and from the back area where our master saddle maker is located,” Morales said.

“We have a master saddle maker who has been making saddles for the King Ranch Saddle Shop for over 20 years and his father-in-law taught him,” she noted.

Throughout the store shoppers get a feel for King Ranch from the mounted wildlife.

“We have turkeys in flight coming off the ceiling and a full size Longhorn lying on a counter,” Morales said.

“We also have a full size nilgai that gets a lot of customers talking.”

The history of the Saddle Shop dates back to the founding of King Ranch in 1853 men making saddles and tack along with weaving saddle blankets was a necessity in the Wild Horse Desert.

But, can over 150 years of tradition and the shopping technology associated with the Internet coexist?

“Most definitely,” Morales said.

“The tradition and history of King Ranch are what make us unique on the Internet and that is what is bringing unique hits to our site,” she said.

“People from all over the world can now learn about King Ranch and they will get a taste of the historical flavor based on the creative use of the traditions and authenticity online,” Morales said.

King Ranch Saddle Shop has 32 employees.

It’s no secret that the Saddle Shop prides itself on Made-in-the-USA products whenever possible, and especially Texas-made products

“It is extremely important for us to manufacture products in the USA when possible,” Morales said.

“The policy and structure we have developed for our products is that no matter where it is made, it must reflect King Ranch quality standards — that is first and foremost the most important aspect we must follow,” Morales said.

It takes a lot of work to maintain the Saddle Shop as one of the top shopping destinations in Texas.

“The greatest challenge is to know what our customer wants,” Morales said,.

“We have one type of customer coming into our retail store and another customer buying from our catalog,” she noted.

“When we go to gift and apparel markets, we see hundreds of new product ideas, however, we have to decide on the ones we know will sell,” Morales said.

“Unfortunately, we’re not always right and we might have some bombs, but for the most part, we have been on target keeping up with trends in home and fashion,” she said.

ShopAcrossTexas.com whets the appetite of half a million serious shoppers every year, touting the best spots to shop in 60 Texas cities. Lomas