4 Reasons Why Your Animals Want You to Look at Weaver Leather
I’m always surprised by how many of our products inside North 40 Outfitters are made in the USA. Contrary to popular belief most livestock feed, animal health products, and even many tack items are manufactured in North America.
In the past, I have been a tack and animal health buyer for North 40, I’ve sat on committees in the industry for this category, and I’ve been to countless shows, meetings, supplier’s visits, and factory tours. However, I have never been to Weaver Leather or Ohio for that matter. So, when I got the invite to the Weaver Leather headquarters and their factory in Berlin, Ohio with our current tack buyer, Erik Haugen, and our farm and ranch category manager, Jesse Ova, I jumped at the opportunity.
During our visit, four main themes kept reoccurring as we visited the different manufacturing facilities and office at the Weaver Leather campus.
4. Expanding in the U.S.
During our factory tour, given by a 42-year veteran Weaver Leather employee (Weaver’s most experienced employee), and Hugh Martin, Weaver’s sales manager, I was asked, “What’s the thing that stood out most to me”? For me, that was easy to answer.
I was surprised by the number of different products that Weaver builds in Ohio. They cut and sew most all of their leather, webbing, and rope products here in the US. Normally, these types of products are outsourced to other countries to save costs. But at Weaver, they are expanding. They have added a twenty thousand square foot metal fabricating shop, where they make metal tack boxes and show supplies. To help, they have two robots in this metal shop too. Yes, I said robots.
3. Skilled Craftsmen
As we drove from the Cleveland airport to the factory, the closer we got the more we were slowing down for horse-drawn black buggies sitting on skinny wheels. I’ve never been to a place where the Amish faith is so prevalent. In Montana, where I live, we have Hutterites. Hutterites are incredibly skilled farmers and we enjoy their produce and baked goods. The Amish are craftsmen, and Weaver’s products are built in this environment.
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Though the Amish are not the only employees at Weaver, they do make up 80% of its factory workforce. Not only are they skilled craftsmen, but their entire livelihood depends on using horses, tack, and animals. They still actually depend on horses in their lives, it’s not just a hobby.
2. Business with a High Purpose
This sounds cliché because many companies make these types of claims, but Paul Weaver, Weaver’s Chairman of the Board and author of the book, “Business with a Higher Purpose,” has, in fact, implemented a unique culture. For example, every employee we met told us about a speech they have to give in front of the company. The speech is about a word for the week or their leadership training, and they are paid to research and prepare for it too.
Overall, we found that Weaver employees were happy, and we heard multiple times how generous the owners of the company are to their employees. If this is something you think about when making a purchase, then Weaver Leather is going to be difficult to beat. The facilities are all very clean, they have a library, training opportunities, and passionate employees trying to make Weaver better.
1. Providing Value
Finally, Weaver has a commitment to providing the best value. I shook Mr. Martin’s hand at the beginning of the tour, so I can’t share in detail all the companies Weaver is producing leather products for, but it would surprise many people to know the diversity of the products being built there. What does that have to do with value and quality products?
First, this allows them to scale up their production and buy raw materials better than almost anyone else in their space, which means they can make their products better and less expensive. Secondly, when I was getting a first look at next year’s products, Martin stated, “If you see any way we can make this product better we are listening.” I never once heard, how do we make it cheaper? Or, how do we make it look fancy and make it appear more valuable?
In the end, the lesson here could simply be that just because something isn’t the most expensive, does not mean it’s not the best. It could be that you are just working with, or purchasing from, a more transparent, efficient, and honest company, like Weaver Leather.
If you own a pet, a horse, or raise livestock, chances are you have already heard of Weaver Leather. They make 16,000 items, so make no mistake, if it goes on an animal and they can make it, they want it to be made by Weaver. North 40, of course, wants to be the ones to sell it to you. But if you were to ask me what is Weaver’s biggest weakness, it would be that no one knows enough about them or what they are up to in Berlin, Ohio, USA.