Draft:Leathersmith Designs

  • Comment: YouTube is not a reliable source and assorted profiles created by you are not independent and do not help with notability. Theroadislong (talk) 17:15, 13 September 2024 (UTC)
  • Comment: not clear what all the notes refer to but it clearly fails WP:NCORP. Theroadislong (talk) 18:53, 6 September 2024 (UTC)

Leathersmith Designs Inc. is a Canadian manufacturer of leather goods, and a distributor of leather making supplies.


Leathersmith Designs
Company TypeMicro Bussiness
IndustryManufacturing
Founded1975[1]
Incorporated1996[2]
FounderJamie Hartling
Number of Locations1
Areas ServedWorldwide
ProductsCustom Leather Goods
Websitewww.leathersmithdesigns.com

History

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Early Years: 1975 - 19

Leathersmith Designs began as a hobby turned business venture of Jamie Heartling's. At the age of 12, Heartling was gifted a leather working kit. The next summer would be spent at craft shows.[3][4] Heartling would continue to make and sell his leather goods through his schooling, spending summers traveling the Maritime Provinces to attend craft shows.[5]

In Junior High School Heartling would expand from belt making and move on to purses and breif cases, items he would come to sell to the staff of his

During this time, he also took leatherworking courses, such as one offered by Dartmouth Continuing Education. Once in High school Jamie would secure a contract with the Halifax International Airport to sell his goods in a booth on the weekends. At this point he would also come to befriend a local shoe repairman[3] by the name of George Rapanakis. As the owner of George's Shoe Repair, Rapanakis would show Jamie the craft he had come to hone.[6] Despite never getting into shoe repair himself, Jamie learned many applicable skills of the trade from Rapanakis that he was able to transfer to his own craft of leatherworking. [3]

After receiving a Bachelor of Commerce from Saint Mary's University in 1985, Jamie stated that he found more joy in the part-time leather business he had been running since junior high school than in this minimum wage job in his field of commerce, during a conversation with a minister at his church, who had asked him about his passions. After the inquiry as to if he would ever consider making it a full time venture, Jamie began to seriously consider the move. From there, with his commerce background, Jamie took steps that would change his part-time leather working bussiness into a full-time venture, creating the business we know as Leathersmith Designs today.

Jamie is noted for saying that the first five years of full time leather work were the hardest, as he realized he would have to take steps to make things more efficient. Investing in specialized training and equipment that would allow him to grow as a business in the late 20th century. His wife Gail Hartling officially became partner when Leathersmith Designs changed from a sole proprietorship to incorporated in 1996.[3][2] Gail developed the first website for the business which changed the business model from in person to online, making it easy to sell their handmade leather goods across the country, and internationally, without the need to travel for craft shows.[3] This would allow Leathersmith Designs to exist solely as a local shop with an online store.[5] With the increased interest in leatherworking and as accessibility to the internet continued to grow, Leathersmith Designs expanded their inventory to include supplies, becoming a distributor of leather craft supplies themselves.[3]

Products and Services

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Leathersmith Designs has become a staple of leather goods in the community of Halifax over the last 4 decades. Making belts for customers as well as keytags for corporate entities, with the majority of keytags used by car dealerships in the area originating from Jamie's shop.[7]

Leathersmith Designs also services people in the Halifax Regional Municipality with selective repairs such as belt alterations.[8]

Leathersmith Designs makes and sells custom leather items made to order[7], these items are made to the specification of the customer and then embossed and dyed accordingly. These leather goods include; belts, dog collars, guitar straps, dog leashes, wristbands, knife cases, rifle slings, drumstick bags, cellular cases, coin purses, drink coasters, bookmarks, key tags, wallets[5], money belts, cases, bracelets, pouches,[9] sling tags[1], and promotional products such as corporate logo embossing.[9]

They also sell leathercraft supplies such as leather hides, rivets, snaps[1], leather, dyes, belt buckles, lace, thread, grommets, thread, eyelets, and leather working tools.[9]

Appearances

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Jamie has appeared on Breakfast Television twice, once on May 26, 1994[10] and again on October 18th, 1999[11]. Leathersmith Designs was also featured in 2023 in episode 11 of the 3rd season of Eastlink Community TV's documentary series Handcrafted.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Leathersmith Designs". Better Bussiness Bureau.
  2. ^ a b "Leathersmith Designs". Registry of Joint Stock Companies, Nova Scotia.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Hartleib, Renée (2015-10-01). "Artisan From Birth" (PDF). Maroon & White. St. Mary's University. pp. 16, 17.
  4. ^ "Hartling's Childhood Fascination Develops into Career". Dartmouth This Week. 4 July 1985. p. 9.
  5. ^ a b c "Leathersmith Designs". Citizens of Craft.
  6. ^ "Leather Fascination Develops into Career". Progress Enterprise. 10 July 1985. p. 2A.
  7. ^ a b Nova Scotia Legislature, Assembly Debates, Monday, April 3rd, 2023. p.5507 [1]
  8. ^ "Leathersmith Designs Youthful Intrest Becomes Sucessful Business for Leathersmith". Chronicle Herald. 26 October 1993. pp. Dartmouth Handcrafters Insert.
  9. ^ a b c "Leathersmith Designs". Nova Scotia Fine Arts.
  10. ^ Breakfast Television (Television Broadcast). ASN (Atlantic Satellite Network). 1994.
  11. ^ Breakfast Television (Television Broadcast). ASN (Atlantic Satellite Network). 1999.
  12. ^ "Season 3". Handcrafted TV.