Cowboy boot sandal founder pitches his unique footwear

Calgary Stampede goers who find cowboy boots a little too sweaty in July might want to take a look at the cowboy sandal.

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Scotty Franklin, the owner of Redneck Boot Sandals in Missouri, has come up with a Western-themed option that's a cross between a boot and a sandal.

He says inspiration struck ona trip to the beach.

"I saw a guy walking down the beach wearing a pair of cowboy boots and I thought, man he's got to be sweating like nobody's business. I looked down at my sandals and started thinking about how I could convert a pair of cowboy boots that I got at home."

Franklintransformed his boots using a pocket knife.

"I wore them around and had several friends who thought it was just hilarious and they wanted actually pairs made for them," he said. "We were joking around about making a business and then I got to talking to my mother and we started making a business out of it."

Recently,images of the boot sandals have hitsocial media and sites like BuzzFeed. NowFranklin receives between 50 and 100 emails a day from people interested in the concept.

"It's just blown up. I mean, we've been overwhelmedPeople,they just love the design," he said.

"It's not a waste of a perfectly good pair of cowboy boots because you can go to your local thrift store and buy a pair of cowboy boots and send them down to us and we refurbish them."

Franklin, who has heard of the Calgary Stampede, says he is too busy with his family-run business to bring a pair tothe city next month.

"I guess that's a huge event for you guys up there in Canada," he said. "I don't know if I can fit it in my schedule. We've been pretty busy, but I'd love to get a pair up there for sure."