Springfield Leather Supply Guide (updated 5/2023)

BRAND NEWS

Wow! Another year has gone by, and I didn’t think it would be possible, but it went even faster than the previous one! I think we need a posted speed limit for the time it takes a year to fly by! The world around us continues to change at breakneck speed, and the leather world is not immune to all the changes that the world is throwing at us. It does seem that many leather prices have stabilized a bit, although we’re still seeing some increases here and there. The supply chain issues are still a thing, but it seems to be getting better slowly. The inflation thing is still creating difficulties, and shipping costs are going anywhere except down. The handbag trends are still strong as far as I can tell, and for the part-time crafters, or small business people, demand for good quality leather products seems to be strong. Here at SLC, we’re enjoying (?) a fairly tumultuous year…. We’ve needed a new roof for a while now, and this was the winter that finally pushed things to the point of necessity! So, having had a flat roof for many years, we’ve decided to bite the bullet, and convert to a slanted roof. And of course, as long as we’re doing that, we figured we might as well put a new face on the place…. And a new sign…. And a new this and a new that and…. Anyway, you get the picture. Or at least you will when it’s all behind us and done!

KEVIN HOPKINS OWNER

We’ve implemented a Thursday Live Sale that has been super successful, and we’re doing a “Trading card Friday” on the last Friday of every month with Denny and I. And we’re doing some sort of “Round Table” discussion once a month with Liz, myself, Dan, Rusty, Denny. Basically we sit around and talk about things that the live audience wants to hear about. I let Liz make fun of me, and I get to hand some of it back, which is kind of fun.

For me, all this digital online stuff is pretty challenging for me, but I figure I’ll get by. After all, we’ve got lots of young people here that can figure out all the computer stuff that’s over my head, and it just means that I don’t have to do as much as I used to!

As always, thanks to all of you, and we’re here to help whenever we can.

I find myself agreeing with Kevin when it comes to the challenges of embracing all this “digital online stuff.” While I’m not as “experienced” as he is, being relatively younger has made it somewhat easier for me to navigate through it. However, I can relate to the preference for tangible things as well. We’ve been gradually shifting towards more online videos and sales, which have proven to be incredibly successful. In fact, the results have been nothing short of remarkable. But when it came to transitioning our catalog into a digital format, it required some serious mental adjustment on my part. You see, for the entire twenty-two years I’ve been here, we’ve always relied on producing a paper catalog. I must admit, I had my doubts initially. Nevertheless, upon careful consideration, I realized that cloud-based catalogs are the perfect solution for providing our customers with the most up-to-date information on product availability and detailed product descriptions. It also allows us to keep you constantly informed. Moreover, with digital catalogs and offers, we can now provide direct links to specific items directly from the catalog or digital flyer. Imagine being able to click on an item number in our digital catalog and instantly find yourself on the corresponding page of our website, simplifying the shopping experience. So, we have a choice:

DARCIE GRISHAM IYKYK

either stick to outdated paper catalogs that become obsolete by the time they reach our customers, or embrace digital product catalogs that offer access to thousands of continually updated items, complete with direct links to our website, providing a seamless shopping experience from the world’s leading leather and leathercraft supplier, right at your fingertips. It seems like a no brainer, wouldn’t you agree? Change can indeed be positive!

Phone: 1-800-668-8518

springfieldleather.com

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