Leathercraft grows by taking high road
By Joan Gunin -- Furniture Today, January 25, 2004
CONOVER, N.C — CONOVER, N.C. — Faced with a rising tide of imports and commodity looks, Leathercraft three decades ago decided it would be a producer of upscale custom leather upholstery, a niche it's never abandoned.
"We stepped it up when Natuzzi came along," said President Jack Donahoe. "We cater to the special-order customer as 78% of our business."
Leathercraft was launched in the late 1960s by four local businessmen, each of whom anted up $1,500. One of the original partners, Hurshell Keener, is chairman emeritus.
In addition to Keener, Leathercraft today is co-owned by Wayne Windsor, chairman, who joined the company in 1970 as vice president of manufacturing. Donahoe joined as sales and marketing manager in 1983.
Management includes David Sigman, vice president of sales, and Kathy Stout, vice president of administration and a 30-year company veteran, who helps oversee 113 employees.
In 1975, Leathercraft moved from Hickory to its current — and fourth — location. The 167,000-square-foot factory has been expanded five times.
"We came into the leather category when there were only five or six others in it," Windsor said. Today, he estimates, there are 150 leather resources.
"Leather began as a luxury item; no one touched it at the mass level," Donahoe said. "This was before Natuzzi ... took it to the masses."
"Everyone who tried to chase (Natuzzi), they're no longer here," Windsor said. "While Natuzzi drove down pricing, we took the high road."
As leather became a commodity in the early 1990s, "It was hard not to get lost with leather on every corner," Donahoe said.
Windsor said, "We decided it was best to get out of the ordinary and to separate ourselves from the masses by going upscale. We had tremendous growth because of that."
The next shockwave to hit the industry was South America. Rather than a European touch, "They created contemporary looks and took leather down a whole grade level," Windsor said.
Today, with the onslaught of Chinese imports, the industry is undergoing further changes, Donahoe said. "My whole career in leather, we've been fighting imports." But, by working the high-end, "we've never lost a sofa sale to importers."
Leathercraft takes no shortcuts. It remains true to hardwood frames, not plywood, and European leathers, never splits. As a custom house, Leathercraft can produce by-the-inch frames for customers who need longer or shorter seating.
"It's nice to be able to tell a customer, 'Yes,' with six-week delivery," Donahoe said.
Those leather producers who have succeeded against imports have changed and adapted, he said, adding, "The next train wreck that's coming will affect fabric people. They will have to do the same."
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