In search of opportunity, the brothers set up shop in a rent-free factory with lent equipment and what would eventually become Rocky Brands was born.

With a newly constructed addition and the installation of more equipment, by the mid-1930s the factory employed 225 people and production output increased to more than 2,000 pairs per day.

[citation needed] But in 1958, William Brooks decided to sell the business to the Irving Drew Shoe Company of Lancaster, Ohio.

His nephew, John Brooks, who had worked in the plant full-time since age 17, attempted to make a play for the family-run business, but his efforts were rebuffed.

[citation needed] In February 2014 the company acquired Los Angeles based Creative Recreation for $11 million.