Type Private Area served Worldwide | Founder Dave Munson | |
 | ||
Industry Leather Goods manufacturing,
Luggage manufacturing Founded San Antonio, Texas, United States (2004 (2004)) Headquarters Fort Worth, Texas, United States | ||
Saddleback Leather Company (SBL) is a Fort Worth, Texas, United States-based, privately owned American leather goods retailer founded in 2003 by Dave Munson. The company produces primarily bags and luggage, beginning originally with a single leather briefcase design, but has since expanded into many other areas including wallets, luggage, and other accessories. Saddleback is an online-only business that ships globally.
Contents
History
In 1999, Saddleback Leather Company founder Dave Munson was living in the Southern Mexico town of Morelia, Michoacán as a volunteer English teacher at Centro NOE. In search of a sturdy bag to carry school books, he found a leather shop and asked the owner to make him a bag that he had designed. Munson used the bag extensively while in Mexico and upon returning to the United States found that many people asked him about it.
Wanting to test its marketability, Munson returned to the shop in Mexico and had eight more bags produced, which he brought to his hometown of Portland, Oregon and quickly sold from the back of his Land Cruiser. With the success of his initial sales, he decided to move back to Mexico to have more bags made and start Saddleback Leather Company.
After moving to Acapulco and Ixtapan de la Sal and failing to find manufacturing, Munson visited Leon, Guanajuato, known as Mexico’s leather capital. There he found an old leather craftsman, Don David, and his son to begin making his bags. He shortly moved to Juarez, Mexico where he rented a $100 USD a month apartment as home base. Munson slept on the floor with his black lab, Blue, with no hot water for three years in order to save money to have more bags made. The craftsmen sent up a few bags each month, and Munson would go to the Juarez bus station and take them across the U.S. border to El Paso, Texas. He first began selling his bags online on eBay, but quickly outgrew that resource. He started the Saddleback Leather website in 2004 and the business began to grow even more rapidly.
By September 2006, Don David and family could no longer keep up with demand and Munson began sourcing a new manufacturer. Shortly, Munson found a small Leon factory with more capacity. Unhappy and frustrated with the inconsistent quality and deceptive practices, in October 2008, Dave partnered with his business consultant to open their own factory in Leon, TrueBlue Production. In June 2014, Munson bought his partner's interest in the factory and began the shift in the direction of social manufacturing.
The company is currently planning its first brick and mortar presence in Fort Worth.
Production
Old Mexico Manufacturing (OMM) also owned by Dave and his wife Suzette Munson), based in Leon, Mexico, is the primary manufacturer of Saddleback Leather products.
The factory employs approximately 200 workers and does contract manufacturing for not only Saddleback, but various other leather goods retailers. Fort Worth Leather Production Company (FWL), a business unit was opened in Fort Worth, Texas in 2013. It employs approximately 15 workers with plans to expand.
Company Culture
Saddleback is cited for and has received several awards for its engaging content and unique voice, as seen in the company's origin story as found at the website. Saddleback is also known for its social media presence, and created content such as How To Knock Off a Saddleback Leather Bag, a video in which Munson describes methods that the brand's counterfeiters use to simulate Saddleback bags as a tutorial to would-be imitators. On June 10, 2013, Munson participated in a Reddit AMA forum, where he discussed the formation and history of the company, and the products.
Munson is a Christian, which has had a major impact on Saddleback. The company provides significant personal benefits to its employees in the U.S. and Mexico. They offer free Love and Respect marriage courses, Dave Ramsey's Smart Money financial courses in the U.S., and child care and a four year English courses through Centro NOE for the children of their employees at the factory in Mexico. Saddleback Leather also donates a significant portion of its profits to a number of non-profit organizations such as JDRF, Mercy Ships, Africa New Life Ministries, Young Life as well as others in the United States, Mexico and Rwanda. The company slogan states “Saddleback Leather Company exists to love people around the world through making high-quality leather goods.”
Munson is also a self-proclaimed world traveler and has spent a great deal of his adult life trekking around the globe. Owners of Saddleback Leather products are encouraged to share photos of their bags while traveling and many blog posts, articles, and videos are posted on their website.
Philanthropy
In 2010, Dave and his wife Suzette Munson began supporting Africa New Life Ministries (ANLM), an organization founded in Rwanda, East Africa to help Rwandans recover from the brutal genocide of 1994. Shortly after they began their support, they were invited to visit the country to see firsthand all of ANLM’s activities. This began a partnership between the Munsons and ANLM that remains strong today. They take 2 - 3 trips per year to Rwanda and frequently take teams of 10 - 20 people with them in order to assist with the work of ANLM and minister to a people still suffering from poverty, hunger, and disease. They donate regularly to the organization and sponsor 17 children through ANLM’s child sponsorship program.
Love 41
After one of their trips to Rwanda in 2010, Suzette felt compelled to do even more for the people of Rwanda and started a second online retail business called Love 41. She based the company name on a Bible passage from Psalm 41 which states “blessed is he who considers the poor.” Love 41 sells leather bags and fashion goods aimed primarily at women shoppers, and all profits from the company go towards helping ANLM and other charitable causes.
Recognition
Awards, recognition, and placement of Saddleback products include:
Saddleback Films
An additional business interest of Saddleback Leather is Saddleback Films and their sponsorship of filmmaker Joe Callander. They have produced several short films which have received recognition and appeared in various notable film festivals such as the Sundance Film Festival. Their most distinguished films include: