The road to leather success
5 have deep roots in western N.C.
By Joan Gunin -- Furniture Today, January 26, 2004
Much like Italy's Pelle Highway — the well-traveled route linking the port city of Bari to the outlying leather meccas of Altamura and Matera — a number of venerable leather furniture makers are clustered off Interstate 40 in the North Carolina foothills near Hickory.
Call it the Hickory Highway.A two-hour drive west of High Point, the area shares some characteristics with the Pelle Highway — cows and sheep graze amid small farms and light industry, and the countryside is a mix of bright colors and grays.
This special report profiles five leather upholstery manufacturers with deep roots in the category. They turned to leather in the late 1960s, early '70s and into the '80s.
Most are family-based, representing second or third generations in the furniture industry. Sons commonly followed in a father's footsteps, like Tommy Shores Jr. at Classic Leather and the Youngs at Bradington-Young. But a father and daughter founded McKinley Leather.
To launch the companies, some partners pooled sums of money that now seem almost ridiculously small — $500 at Old Hickory Tannery, $1,500 at Leathercraft. Nor is it uncommon for these companies still to carry original pieces in their lines.
Unable to compete with high-volume, container-driven imports, these Hickory Highway factories pride themselves on high-end, sharply tailored, well-detailed custom pieces. Old Hickory Tannery and Bradington-Young, however, will launch import programs this April.
These producers tend to target similar retail channels, including high-end specialty stores and independents.
Furniture/Today visited these key leather manufacturers along the Hickory Highway.
Highlighted on this and the facing page are McKinley Leather, Classic Leather and Bradington-Young. Old Hickory Tannery and Leathercraft are spotlighted on page 14.
