Shop Talk! October 2022

“If you could see through the banner of the sunInto eternity’s eyes like a vision reaching down to youWould you turn away?What if it knew you by your name?What kind of words would cut throughThe clutter of the whirlwind of these days?” “My Own Soul’s Warning” Imploding the Mirage by The Killers This verse, to one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands, has been ringing through my head for the past few days. Isn’t it powerful and thought provoking? Brandon Flowers, lead singer of The Killers, is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, just like me. He lives in my town, and I have had the opportunity to hear him speak to our youth about his journey in the gospel. Imploding the Mirage,…

LYNN ASCRIZZI Lynn Ascrizzi is a freelance writer, artist, poet and home gardener who lives in a home that she and her husband, Joe, built in the woods in Freedom, Maine. In the past five years, she has written extensively for ShopTalk! Early on, she taught art and English in public schools and was senior editor, illustrator and art director for Farmstead, a national magazine for small farming and home gardening. Later, she was lifestyle editor, feature writer and syndicated columnist for Central Maine Newspapers. Her poems have been published in several journals and in two anthologies by Down East Books: “Take Heart: Poems From Maine,” (2013) and “Take Heart: More Poems From Maine,” (2016). LIISA ANDREASSEN Liisa Andreassen is the president of Write Away, Inc. (www.writeawayinc.com). She works with custom content publishers,…

The Mid-Ohio Harness and Saddlery Expo took place at the Mt. Hope Event Center, a 61,000 square-foot event center in Millersburg, OH on August 3 and 4, 2022. Along with the auction, there were about 40 vendors set up in the event center during the sale and they accepted consignments for all types of equipment, leather, saddles, tack and supplies related to the harness and saddlery industry. John Raber, owner of Hillside Harness Hardware, a third-generation, family-owned business that wholesales harnesses, saddlery and pet and equine products, is the catalyst behind this event and now he’s got two years under his belt. He’s happy to report that every one of the consignments sold this year – approximately 6,000 of them. The auctioneers, Alan and Orus Mast of Northwood Auctions and Realty Services,…

James Cox of Tex Tan has sold one of its brands that was acquired from Action Company. The Saddle Smith of Texas brand -T.M. - now belongs to Michael Lamprey of South Carolina. Michael owns Lamprey’s Southern Tack Distributors in Goose Creek, South Carolina. We did not want to have too much competition between our own brands in house, so we sold this particular brand. Mr. Lamprey is making the Leather Saddle Smith Saddles in the USA and also has an economical line of synthetic saddles. He also distributes some of our Tex Tan products. For more information call Michael Lamprey at 803-565-6169 or email to saddlesmithoftexasco@gmail.com Tex Tan is retaining its 5 other Saddle Brands including Hereford Tex Tan, Imperial Tex Tan, Simco, Longhorn, and Abetta Saddle brands as well…

Real Leather. Stay Different. International Student Design Competition 2022 – Global finalists announced • International competition category and People’s Choice winners confirmed as four winners are selected from almost 2,000 entries, across all competitions• More than 130 academic institutions across 40 countries represented across entries• International People’s Choice competition generates almost 37,000 votes• Category winners for Apparel, Accessories and Footwear joined by People’s Choice selection to compete in London global final on 15th September - an official London Fashion Week event• ‘Into the metaverse with IoDF‘ - a chosen winning design concept is taken into AR for all to wear, share but sustainably (17 August 2022): The Real Leather. Stay Different. International Student Design Competition (RLSD), in partnership with ArtsThread, has confirmed its category and People’s Choice winners for this year. Almost…

Michael Magnus is an advertising professional who supports the growth of the leather industry through his marketing agency, Magnus Opus. Among his client partnerships are Silver Creek Leather Co., manufacturers of Realeather® Crafts and Lace, and Jim Linnell’s Elktracks Studio. Learn more at www.magnusopus.com or reach out at michael@magnusopus.com. In the last issue, I ended with the comment that “if you need sales right now, Google Ads (or Facebook Ads) are probably a better choice [than Search Engine Optimization].” In hindsight, it was a little irresponsible of me not to offer more context and insight on such a suggestion. Digital ads can be great if you know what you’re doing. They can also be a spiraling money pit that can cost hundreds of dollars before you know it, if you don’t know…