2019 Catalog

springfieldleather.com

to a better place, and that has been and will continue to be our goal. The leather supply world is forever changing, hide prices are as low as they have been in a long time meaning there is a ton of pressure on tanneries to do everything they can to generate sales. Which is why every day we are contacted by tanneries wanting to sell us leather. Chinese consumption fluctuation, Environmental cleanup and tariff wars have had some impact on the market. Their environmental cleanup seems to be having as much impact as anything, and the changing laws and tightening of regulations has put a number small tanneries and foundries out of business. The closing of the small foundries has impacted small sewing machine factories. You will notice in this catalog we no longer offer Sailrite sewing machines. This is because they told us that they cannot get enough parts to build their own machines! Hopefully this will change…. LOTS of metal related products are really feeling the pinch. On a positive note, Kevin and I found our way out to Massachusetts to see an old friend/vendor that after 40 plus years was finally shutting his doors and retiring.... That part of the trip got us TONS of machine and hand sewing thread that will be a steal for you. The second half of the trip was equally as productive. We visited a company that produces metal products from rivets to buckles to conchos and on and on... This was a very good visit because it really helped us to see all of the different things we can develop with you in mind! Such as custom embossed snap caps, and the ability to have your own logo on the snaps that you use in quantity. On a side note.... Kevin and I travel together from time to time... and for some reason he lets me drive the rental cars!!!! The phrase “drive it like you stole it” may hit home harder for some than others... but that’s why they offer extra insurance.... HA! But speeding tickets don’t seem to be my problem.... It’s parking tickets!!! Last year we went to New York City... I drove around for a while.... found a spot to park and I did... The sign said “No Standing” well I wasn’t going to stand there.... I parked there.... That was $400 bucks and 8 city blocks of Steppin’ and Fetchin’ to get to the police station before they closed! And we had to wait to get the dumb boot off the tire!!! Well Massachusetts didn’t treat me any better.... Parked the car on the street... no signs no parking meters... we are safe, right!? Wrong! In the fine state of Massachusetts, they apparently put the parking meters all on one side of the street and the dumb things look like an ATM... and I guess in a way for us Southern Missouri boys…. it was an ATM!!!! Well trust me... I could go on for quite a while to you telling on myself.... but I really have more important things to do….  We wish you and your families all the best for this year and would like to again say “Thanks”. If you

have problems or concerns, or possible good ideas, I’d love to hear them!

Sincerely,

Pres. SLC

Wow. It’s hard for me to believe that it’s been 20 years since Springfield Leather Company made its debut in the leather world! Even though it was a very long time ago, when Kevin and I were both young (well, when I was young anyway  ), I can still remember

Brand News 20 th Anniversary Edition

Kevin getting that phone call from Tandy, telling him that the company was closing its stores and filing for bankruptcy… For those of us that were working for Tandy at the time, it was no surprise that they were open to Kevin’s offer to buy the store. I mean, he had the biggest Tandy staff at the time, there were probably 6 of us at least, which was practically unheard of… plus, he was running the most successful store in the country, and he was even finding his own vendors and creating his own special offers, completely separate from Tandy! In my mind, there really wasn’t anything for Kevin and his lovely wife, Becky, to really consider… I mean, Kevin was a natural… like he was born to do this, and he couldn’t have had a better partner in an adventure such as this than Becky (the kindest, most good-hearted person I’ve ever met in my life… she’s smart, too  ). Starting out, we did have retail customers come in to the tiny, single unit store front in our happy little strip mall, and since we bought the Tandy phone number along with the store and inventory, we continued to get some phone calls from customers looking to place mail orders for Tandy. But honestly, our real bread and butter came from the inmate customer base that Kevin had grown for Tandy over the years. Even while he was working for Tandy, Kevin was creating long-lasting relationships with different vendors, this continued after he launched Springfield Leather, and continues to this day. Kevin has a gift for thinking outside the box and realized early on that inmates could be incredibly imaginative! He also knew that money could be difficult to come by, especially for inmates. This led to some pretty interesting purchases and offers… which also continues to this day! Some of you old-timers might remember the one-page flyers with a simple list of Kevin’s

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