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November 25, 2024
ALMA – Self-taught, lifelong leathersmith Larry Farl, 75 – founder and owner of Alma Leather – said he’s always had a passion and a knack for crafting leather goods.
“I’ve been doing leather since the ’70s,” he said. “I’ve been doing it for so long and know it well.”
Farl said his professional journey began in Minnesota with his brother introducing him to the owner of a leather goods shop in the Twin Cities.
“I just started hanging out there… and after a week or so, he says, ‘You might as well start doing something,’” he said. “So I started making things and developed a line of bags.”
Studying under the shop’s owner, Farl said he honed his craft, and after a brief hiatus working as a truck driver, moved to Alma to open his own shop – Alma Leather – in 2004 at 121 N. Main St.
Now, after celebrating 20 years in that same building, Farl said he’s thinking about retiring and handing the keys over to the two men who’ve shown an interest in his business – Drew Ibach and Dave Fueling.
Farl said he’s known Ibach since he started the shop, and that “after COVID-19, he just started coming down here and helping out every morning (to) get this place in shape again.”
Shortly after, Farl said Ibach met Fueling – who showed interest in working with them – and invited him to work at the shop as well.
Ibach and Fueling, Farl said, are “contract workers” who, for the time being, work in the shop as a hobby and have the opportunity to make money from selling their designs.
As he looks toward retirement, Farl said that could change in the future.
On-demand product line
Farl said the products he, Ibach and Fueling sell at Alma Leather are heavily born out of customer demand.
“So (customers will) say, ‘Hey, I’d like to see if you can do this for me,’” he said. “So we do it… and it becomes popular.”
Offering a wide variety of products, such as dog leashes, bridles for horses, turkey totes, belts, harnesses for equipment, bags and wallets, Farl said – “I made everything here at least once.”
“You learn a lot just by doing it,” he said.
For almost everything Alma Leather sells (unless it’s a newly requested item) Farl said they have a pre-design pattern.
“We just outline the pattern, punch the holes and sew it together by hand or on a machine,” he said. “So Drew can get a wallet done every morning, probably, in no more than a couple hours.”
Sales at Alma Leather, Farl said, are 50-50 split between in-person and online.
“(I) used to ship a lot more,” he said. “I do have a lot of repeat business in town. Dave has added some new products, and Drew’s added some new products, and people order them again and again.”
On top of serving the leather goods needs of the people in West Central Wisconsin, Farl said he crafts goods for other leather retailers as well.
“I do a lot of belts, and I’m doing them (for) another gentleman (with a shop) called Leather Goods Connection down in Georgia,” he said. “He just gives me the order, and I make it and ship it out.”
Since traveling to Georgia in 2008 to train with the shop owner on how to make the belts he wanted to sell, Farl said he estimates he’s shipped “more than 20,000 belts all around the world.”
Farl said he sources leather from several companies – mostly in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
“Fortunately, they’re large suppliers of almost everything,” he said. “So you can… get what you want – just go online or call them up to order.”
Farl also said he feels that global leather consumption has declined, which has allowed him the opportunity to order more quality leather in the various forms they use, such as vegetable-tanned leather, pre-finished leather (which is already colored and ready for use) and bridle leather (a different type of vegetable-tanned leather known for its durability and smooth texture).
Farl said the attention to detail his smaller leather shop gives to products they sell makes for better quality designs than those of larger leather goods manufacturers.
“We get nothing but the best leather, finish it very well (and our products) look great,” he said. “People love them and keep coming back for them.”
Community establishment
Farl said in the 20 years he’s lived and operated his business in Alma, he’s become heavily involved in the community – currently serving his 19th term on the City Council.
In turn, Farl said he feels the community considers his shop a staple of Alma, visiting often.
“People have a desire,” he said. “They walk in the store, and they go, ‘Oh, I can’t believe how good it smells in here.’”
Though retirement is on his mind, Farl said he does not “plan to move on too fast.”
“I’m still showing (Ibach and Fueling) how to do it,” he said.
Once Ibach and Fueling are trained to Farl’s satisfaction, he said he plans to spend more time with his two sons and his three cats – Bean, Mika and Levi.
For more on Alma Leather, visit almaleather.co or its social media platforms.
