Tannery Row - Horween

[Nuttish]

For what it's worth, Shellie and John Culliton both express great interest in helping small outfits grow. As far as I'm aware, Horween and Wickett & Craig are the only American tanneries that will sell someone 1 side. That's remarkable considering Horween supplies so many manufactures of diverse products, from Alden of New England, to Wilson. And honestly, both tanneries have very good prices for very good products.

Shellie is the small business rep. She's not always in the tannery, but is, in my experience, extremely helpful when I get hold of her. Yes, you'll probably get quicker service if you're a buyer for a larger outfit, but you won't get better service. Horween definitely wants to sell small outfits leather and see it's stuff out in the wild. You just have to adjust your expectations a little.

[nrk]

Let's look at this from a little different perspective. I don't sell leather unless it is made-up into something, or as a favor to some local leathercrafter. Please realize that we as leathercrafters are not a lot more than a rounding error on most of the tanneries bottom lines. Louis Vuitton can order more leather at one time from a tannery than all of our orders combined. Do the tanneries want our business?, the simple answer is yes. They want us to hold leather in our hands and be inclined to order more. It is nonetheless probably a royal pain in the ass to service individual leatherworkers. I think some tanneries genuinely enjoy working with leatherworkers and that's why they do it, maybe combined with the inability to find an acceptable conduit to leatherworkers.

So, where am I going with this? I have seen price bandied about all the time on leatherworker.net. Price is important in a cost of product standpoint, but should be a secondary consideration when quality comes into the picture. Eye quality is very very important to the ultimate sale of the product. Getting the quality of leather we need for our product is more important than the price. The price can't obviously be outrageous, but it can be really high before it starts to impact our profit. Buying 10 hides at a time to get a good price is perfectly ok, as long as you can afford it, but if you can't, get together with your local leatherworkers and do a group buy.

I you are the hobby leatherworker, use the secondary market. If you have local leatherworkers, get to know them and ask if you can buy leather from them until you can shoulder a full order.

Now, about the secondary market. We are talking Tandy (TLF), Springfield Leather (SLC), Weaver, and all the rest. When starting out, deal with someone who will sell you a piece of leather for the project you are contemplating. I know SLC does this, not sure about the others. Learn the true meaning of "Tannery Run" grading. Used to be it was all different grades in a particular distribution, e.g. 4 As, 4 Bs, and 2 Cs per 10 hides, it has varied a lot over time, and for some dealers, it means whatever comes off the top of the pallet of hides. So assume the worst, hope for the best? Or just lower your standards? This stuff is pretty important to a saddlemaker, less so to a holster or belt maker, but important in some degree to everyone. Order by grade from the tannery, or ask for personal selection from the secondary market, and hold them to it, they won't learn to select if they don't get some hides back with the admonition to "try again". They learn that you will accept this but you won't accept that, and the last thing they want to do is pay shipping twice or on their dime. If you get any trouble with a return, don't use them anymore.

Last buy not least, if you learn anything it should be "Don't run out of leather". When you are down to scraps, a rush cherrie job will come in that you just can't pass-up. Your ability to fill the order quickly will usually result in you becoming a source for this kind of thing. You will spend the rest of the day trying to source the leather that will be 3 or 4 days out. Not good for a rush job which you are charging an arm and a leg for. If you have it in stock, you are in good shape, but if you don't, you need sources. Few of us will give-up our sources, I'm no exception. You need to be OUT of price mode at this point and just pay the tariff and pass it on to the customer.

Where can I get the best prices on Horween leather? That is not the question if you need it now.

Art

bravo! )

[biglew]

just ordered a hide from them.... about 11 weeks I am told

[RStevenson]

Does anyone know if the tannery row offers shell cordovan?

[nrk]

Does anyone know if the tannery row offers shell cordovan?

Sure they do. Give a call to Shelley.

[Nuttish]

Sure they do. Give a call to Shelley.

Be prepared to wait months. Every single chip in the tannery is spoken for the moment it gets graded.

[Ferg]

Several years ago I ordered 3 or 4 Shell Cordovan. They didn't have Tannery Row set up at that point.

Don't remember the gentleman's name I dealt with but seems I remember it may have been one of the Horween family.

He told me he would get them out for me within a week or two. Two weeks passed, nothing. I called again asking for same man. He wasn't in but I told who I was speaking to that he had given me two weeks at the most. I had the shells in a few days.

Years ago I used a lot of the Shell Cordovan. Made fine wallets that were all laced by hand of course. Probably sold them for $10 maybe $15. Those hides were beautiful beyond your fondest dreams. Last ones I bought were just average. I accepted them because of the service I received, I will definitely buy from them again, and I will wait as patiently as I can.

BTW: Most if not all Cordovan Shoes are made of leather from Horween.

ferg

[nrk]

Wicket & Craig will split for you...

nope

they refuse to split down bellies

which is strange isn't it the part of a side? and the sides of course the split down.

[Matty]

I recently (within the last month) bought 10 horse butt strips direct from Tannery Row, with extortionate shipping.  For what it weighed, from Chicago to where I am, that weight cost $28 UPS ground.  I paid additional $69 shipping for $28 worth of shipping.  

Now, at the same time I also bought 20 "narrow, hard" strips from Maverick, I got a great discount for buying so many, super shipping, and comparing them to what I got from TR, they average the same width and length and thickness wise, and are in much better shape. 

One of the strips I got from TR is splitting/cracking like cardboard.  

 

My advice:  Ignore the tannery row.  Get your leather elsewhere.

Even Wicket & Craig have something on their site about using polyurethane in the finish?  Ha!

[Matty]

On 3/15/2016 at 9:22 AM, nrk said:

nope

they refuse to split down bellies

which is strange isn't it the part of a side? and the sides of course the split down.

W&C appear to be temperamental.  If you got them on a good day they might have said "sure thing!"  The reason why they might not is because belly is stretchier, and its removed from the bends and shoulders before the final finishings.