George Frederick Baker, Sr.

George Frederick Baker, Sr., founder and chief executive officer of Bespoke Western
George Frederick Baker, Sr., founder and CEO of Bespoke Western.

George Frederick Baker, Sr. is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bespoke Western, the House of Western Brands. He builds companies in categories people assume are finished changing. He spent a decade turning parking, an industry that ran on cash boxes and guesswork, into measurable software through ParkHub, the company he founded in 2010. He is now doing the same work in Western footwear, where the craft is old, the standards are real, and the operating support behind the brands has not kept pace.

In his own words

Writing for the Forbes Business Council on September 11, 2026, he set out the thinking behind the house:

"Preserve what makes heritage brands special while giving them the infrastructure required to compete and grow."

George Baker, Sr., The Investor's Case For Scaling Heritage Brands, Forbes Business Council

In the same piece he describes what is pulling buyers toward the category: people are drawn to products with authenticity, craftsmanship and a story they can connect with, and in an era of disposable fashion, Western brands offer something increasingly rare, identity.

Bespoke Western

Baker built Bespoke Western on one positioning statement: "Bespoke Western is a modern house of Western brands built to protect authentic craftsmanship while unlocking scale through shared services, disciplined productization, and authentic storytelling." The house holds Alvies, Hevias, Olsen-Stelzer and Dixon Boots. Its founders stay in the build rather than exiting once a brand joins. Alvie Faulkenbery IV, who started Alvies from an Austin Airstream, remains the house's creative lead, and Rian McCartan continues to shape Hevias, the Dallas studio he launched in 2021. The house sells online at bespokewestern.com and in person at the showroom in Saint Jo, Texas.

Before Bespoke Western

George founded ParkHub in 2010. The idea was plain: give parking operators a digital record of their transactions so they could manage what they had never been able to measure. ParkHub became Ticketmaster's first certified parking platform and took early investment from Jerry Jones' Blue & Silver Ventures. Under his leadership as Founder and Chairman, the company made the Inc. 5000 four years running: #1218 in 2020, #3172 in 2021, #3588 in 2022 and #3267 in 2023. ParkHub took a growth investment from LLR Partners in 2022 and merged with JustPark in 2024, alongside investment from FTV Capital. The combined company operates as JustPark, and George serves on its board.

Patents

He is a named inventor on five patents in parking, sports and entertainment technology, three of them granted in the United States, including vehicle-arrival monitoring (US11455838B2), autonomous-vehicle parking management (US10803423B2) and pictographic user validation (US10721623B2). His filings are listed on Google Patents.

Recognition

  • EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, 2016 and again in 2023 (Southwest)
  • National Parking Association Innovator of the Year, 2019, the only Texas company recognized that year
  • Electronic Transactions Association Forty Under 40, class of 2019
  • Dallas Business Journal 40 Under 40, class of 2018
  • National Parking Association 40 Under 40, 2016
  • Greater Dallas Business Ethics Award, 2016

Beyond the house

George is founder and managing partner of 2 the Moon Ventures, a private venture firm that is industry- and stage-agnostic and holds Bespoke Western's ownership. He is chapter chair of YPO Dallas/Fort Worth and a past chair of YPO Wild West, chairman of Texas Discovery Gardens at Fair Park, and a board member of RunMyProcess.

Education and Dallas roots

Baker was born and raised in the Park Cities, Dallas, Texas, and attended Highland Park High School. He earned a Bachelor of Applied Science in Regional Development and City Planning from the University of Arizona in 2003.

Profiles

Where to go next

Sources: Forbes Business Council, September 11, 2026 (his byline); Google Patents inventor page; Inc. 5000 lists 2020 to 2023; EY newsroom; National Parking Association and Dallas Innovates coverage; PRNewswire 2017 (Ticketmaster certification); georgebakersr.com; Forbes Councils profile.