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Shining a spotlight on Sneakers…
About 1 year ago, a video production crew working for National Geographic spent some time at Townsend Leather in and out and all around our buildings, people, and production… so they could capture some special moments of the hand-crafted greatness that goes into New Balance sneakers.
Townsend Leather is proud of our Made-In-The-USA Partnership with Wolverine Worldwide Leathers, to provide the pigskin leather hides that go to New Balance’s Made in the USA line of products.
We are equally proud to see some of our work and our Partners featured on the small screen in this beautifully produced documentary series.
TOWNSEND LEATHER FEATURED IN NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SERIES : ‘MADE IN A DAY’
Townsend Leather, a third-generation, U.S.-based family business, has long been known for manufacturing of upholstery hides and decorative leathers, supplying the A & D Residential, Hospitality, Home Furnishings, Corporate, Business, and Commercial Aviation, Motorcoach, and Yachting markets internationally. In 2014, they began to diversify and partner with Wolverine and New Balance to provide pigskin leather for shoes.
Townsend Leather with the partnership of Wolverine Worldwide Leather provides pigskin leather for many of New Balance MADE IN THE USA lines, namely their bestselling shoe, the 990 Running Shoe. Kevin McCoy, New Balance Vice President of Manufacturing says, “the 990 has evolved throughout the years, but the pigskin nubuck is what’s iconic about the product.”
To be considered a Made in the US product, the shoe contains a domestic value of 70% or more. Townsend Leather currently produces 120 different colors and is continuously improving and working on more formulations in their in-house lab. Throughout the production process, the leather is truly crafted by hand in coloring the skins, toggling or stretching the skins to dry and produce elasticity, milling to soften, hand trimming and buffing, along with inspecting each skin and sorting them into grades. Townsend Leather ships 10,000 skins a week, which equals out to about 2.8 million square feet of leather each year.
The episode including Johnstown-based Townsend focuses on New Balance’s Made in the USA line, including its best-selling 990 Running Shoe, for which Townsend provides the pigskin leather through their partnership with their customer Wolverine.
National Geographic’s 12-part series, “Made In A Day” spotlights 12 different companies still manufacturing and delivering top of the line products, all in America.
“In this brand-new series, we (National Geographic) unveil the incredible scale and human ingenuity behind the manufacture and transportation of some of America’s biggest, global brands.”
Some of the iconic brands include Gibson Guitars, Tabasco, Jack Daniels, and Tesla. The National Geographic film crew, based out of the UK, spent a day at Townsend Leather’s facility in fall 2019 filming from 6 am to 6 pm each process that goes into the finished pigskin leather product, as well as interviewed partners on the why and how each step is performed. The film crew also spent time at the New Balance flagship factory in Lawrence, Massachusetts where they manufacture around 6,000 pairs of sneakers daily. The entire episode is 22 minutes long and the feature on Townsend Leather accounts for about 5 minutes.
Townsend Leather takes pride in our employees and the high-quality products we create; we are excited to share with the world a peek inside their passion.
![Townsend Leather 2020 4th o July Made In The USA.jpg[98]](https://i0.wp.com/townsendleather.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Townsend-Leather-2020-4th-o-July-Made-In-The-USA.jpg98.jpg?w=322&h=230&ssl=1 "Townsend Leather 2020 4th o July Made In The USA.jpg[98]")
![National Geographic Made in a Day Thumbnail download.jpeg[34]](https://i0.wp.com/townsendleather.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/National-Geographic-Made-in-a-Day-Thumbnail-download.jpeg34.jpeg?w=281&h=211&ssl=1 "National Geographic Made in a Day Thumbnail download.jpeg[34]")
See the Times Union Article on the episode here: https://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Local-company-featured-in-National-Geographic-15629042.php
See the Leader-Herald Article on the episode here: https://www.leaderherald.com/news/local-news/2020/08/townsend-leather-featured-on-national-geographic/
For more on the Made In a Day Series and Townsend Leather’s contribution to the New Balance Sneaker, stream the episode here: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/tv/shows/made-in-a-day/episode-guide/season-01/episode-05-sneakers/vdka19564864.
Each year Townsend Leather anxiously awaits the NBAA conference.
But, with it being canceled this year, we still wanted to reach out to you, our customers, our friends. And let you know the part we miss most is being there, Together with you.
Since we can’t say it to you in person, the above video is a little heartfelt Video Greeting Card from us just to say, sincerely, THANK YOU! Thank you for the fun, the relationships, and the inspiration.
We look forward to being there with you again next year, but until then – we say ‘cheers!’ to you and to the future.
KEEP IN TOUCH WITH US
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/townsendleather/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TownsendLeatherCompany
Or Email: info@townsendleather.com
TO STAY INFORMED on our Coming Soon: Virtual Tradeshow Booth, showcasing New Leathers and beautiful displays. And all the other passion-filled leather-loving things that Townsend will be doing and offering the rest of this year.
It has been such an interesting, challenging, and yet rewarding year for us. Take a peek at just a few of the significant focuses of ours over the past few months. All done with our heart and gratitude for you in mind.
Click any of the images below to learn more. Or email us at: info@townsendleather.comto get samples, get details, schedule a Zoom call for in-depth learning, or just tell us what you love about leather.
As a gesture of our gratitude for you, for being with us through this year and helping us grow over the last 50, we want to offer you a chance for a Thank You Gift.
Please visit our SURPRISE page to see how to get your Surprise Thank You Gift, from our hearts to yours.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
You are a wonderful human.
Townsend Leather Partners, Customer, Friends, Families, and Fans have so much to be thankful for. See just a few of the messages of gratitude below, and whenever you feel inspired to spread joy and smiles and good vibes and good feels out into the world through messages of ‘thanks’, you can add yours to the list through the simple form. You can leave off your name and info and just submit anonymously if you like, we just want to gather messages of thanks, from near and far.
Thank YOU for doing this. Thank YOU for expressing your thanks and gratitude. Thank YOU for taking one minute to share.
63 entries.
Working with Townsend is such a pleasure and I love the idea of this Thank you book. It makes me so happy to see all these grateful comments and to realize the joy that this company spreads.
We are thankful for Sherry and the great company of Townsend!
You have a wonderful team to work with.
From GTI, Just Plane Great!
Your "joy" billboard worked! Definitely brought me joy, lol!
I saw that you helped give gifts to Johsntown school kids who need them. That is incredible. you all have such big hearts.
This place and all the people at it bring me such joy! Thanks for being great!
Holy crap what a great place!
Just saw this billboard and it made me smile. Glad places like Townsend Leather are in our community.
Keep up the good work! Love working with such a dependable company - always professional !
I am thankful to work with such a committed team, from customer service, quality to the owner. I always feel we are listen. Townsend team is always willing to improve when we have any kind of requests or suggestions.
We appreciate that you are made in the U.S.A, and can usually get orders out quickly for us that meet our customer's expectations.
I am thankful to work with such a committed team at Townsend, from quality, customer service up to Jared. Thank you for always want to to better for your customers. I appreciate it.
I love being part of this area's legacy. Having my hand in leather, just like so many people before us, being part of that story feels cool.
I love being able to tell everyone I know that we have made leather for Vanilla Ice
There is not place like Townsend because our people make each day the best it can be by being excellent to each other Every. Single. Day
It feels like a shared vision here. Everyone together, working toward something special. You get to be yourself and at the same time be part of something, that is something I love.
I love that everyday I get to do and learn new things. The people here are so willing to talk about what they do, and it makes me want to try my hand in every department. And the whole workplace culture is wonderful. Management listens when I have a problem and they work quickly to remedy it.
I love being able to see and handle all of the beautiful leathers that are made here. I am coming up on my 28th Anniversary and so thankful that I have been able to be a part of this company for so long!! I also love the love and appreciation I get from my boss! A true family!
I love getting to work with beautiful leathers everyday! There are so many different kinds
After working a few thankless jobs over the past 15 years, coming to Townsend was literally hitting the "job-jackpot" My mentors and supporters here have helped me grow not only In my career, but in life as well. I love being a part of such a great company.
I am thankful for not being "just a number" in an oddly fun and chaotic workplace, but to be a "Partner" in something much larger...A Family. A Family that takes care of each other and jumps in when necessary.
Everyday I get to spend time with people I love and get my hands onto something awesome. It feels great.
i love feeling part of something
I love making leather!
I love how much of a family Townsend is - we make the best of everything. Having such driven and dedicated partners make you want to excel at whatever you're doing! The different personalities and cultures make for an interesting day, everyday :)
I love how familiar everyone is with each other. We all know each others personalities, likes and even dislikes. LOL We really are like a close family! I feel very comfortable at my job EVERY day!
It might not be easy at times but the one thing is we are treated like family. We come in and work as a team everyday, through the good and the bad we have fun, laugh, joke around with one another while creating beautiful leather and being proud of what we make.
I love who I work with. This team is the f'n best!
Something I love about my job is the feeling that my work matters. I have input and a voice and am part of something.
Thank you for always sharing videos and photos of your teams spreading joy and appreciation. Townsend is setting the standard on driving creativity through adversity. Thank you for the "thank you"s. :)
I am thankful for our industry and thankful for the creativity behind the wonderful and thoughtful Townsend Leather "thank you" video - your creativity is inspiring and more importantly, I am reminded of how important the word "thank you" truly is. Thank you!!!!!
hang in there!
For all our partners and their families safety through this year!! We have been through tough economic times before but never mixed with matters of life and death and uncertainty around health and our livelihood! Together we have made the best of a year Where that takes work! Thankful for the business and opportunities we do have and thankful for all our partners that help us capture and excel at them!!
I am thankful to be connected to such heart-filled people, as Townsend Leather, who come together to help each other through tough times
I am thankful for waking up everyday to be able to enjoy what our lives have, awesome family and friends 😍
Obviously, thankful for good health during this COV19 but also for the friendships I developed with co-workers, my associates throughout the world and the designers that I've had the pleasure of assisting on projects.
Thank you to all our customers redoing and updating their showrooms and workrooms with Townsend Leather. Our sample dept. loves to be kept busy with making samples for your use! Keep the requests coming!
Having a job at Townsend
Feeling thankful to have most of our workforce back and to be making beautiful
leather for customers around the world here in Johnstown, New York.
leather for customers around the world here in Johnstown, New York.
I am thankful for a safe and comfortable place to work and the kind people I get to work with
Thankful and so blessed to live this beautiful life surrounded by amazing family, friends, and doggos! ❤️
Thank you Townsend Partners for having such heart and passion in all you do.
Thank you to all our customers who engage with Townsend Leather and incorporate our leathers into their designs. You are the reason we get to do what we love!
Thank you Townsend for all the hard work that you put into your product and making it beautiful for our projects.
I love the fall, especially because of NBAA. The months and time we anxiously and excitedly prepare for NBAA is like the feeling as a kid on Christmas Eve. The anticipation and inspiration felt from this show and our customers is something to look forward to the entire year!
I love the personal relationships that I have developed with our customers, throughout industries. I know about their personal lives and things that are important to them; not just about our work together.
I love when a customer challenges us by asking for something we have never done on leather. Challenge accepted!
Thank you to all the essential workers that have worked tirelessly to keep so many others safe.
Thank you ice cream, for existing.
I am thankful for sunlight.
Thank you Jared Eckler for being the best leader and role model I’ve had the honor of working for. Thank you for believing in every one of us. Much love for you and the entire Kucel Family
Thank you to all our partners for being so willing to do whatever it takes for our leather and for each other.
“Hire great people and give them freedom to be awesome.”
“Hire great people and give them freedom to be awesome.”
I'm thankful for my family, health and Townsend Leather!
Thank you to all who bought 50/50 tickets today to support Roy! We really have the most generous people! :)
Thank you Townsend for creating such beauty
For the generosity towards helping Roy M. Willis - thank you so much to all! Rachel Hidde and Danielle M. Intelisano told me everyone is really helping out!
Thank you for the everyday motivation of becoming better
to Pamela Goldswer and to all the new partners on our team the past month or two of new partners has me so excited for our future! I’m always inspired to do all I can for us to be successful but with such a great influx of great new partners it makes me doubly want to push all opportunities I and we can to reach an even greater potential we have!
Thank you, Townsend, for accepting me and believing in me.
Thank you Townsend Leather for 50 years of positive action in our Glove Cities community.
Thank you to all Townsend Partners for making it such a joy to work every day.
Townsend Leather crafts leather, by design.
We live our team culture, by design.
We work to meet every customer’s needs, by design.
Our passion for design drives us and inspires us to share. Every once in a while we take a moment to gather some design-focused elements of what we do and who we are and curate them together in a periodical we call, By Design from Townsend Leather.
A glance into what’s new and whats spotlighted at Townsend right now, some tidbits that you will want to know, and a peek into who Townsend is behind the leather.
Our newest edition is available now,
you can download a PDF of it at this link:
www.townsendleather.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Townsend-Leather-BY-DESIGN-8_2020_.pdf
Or scroll down to view it right here, within our site PDF viewer.
You can see all editions of our highly-sought-after By Design Periodical here:
https://townsendleather.com/leather/resources/by-design
If you see something you love, a design inspiration, a leather you need… please contact us! We love to connect, discuss, and explore
info@townsendleather.com
[pdf-embedder url=”https://townsendleather.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Townsend-Leather-BY-DESIGN-8_2020_.pdf” title=”Townsend Leather BY DESIGN 8_2020_”]
Taking a moment to see where we are.
Townsend Leather is so happy to be in full swing again. For a few weeks now, we have had full production up and running. We have been pushing out lots of in-stock leathers and crafting all kinds of customs. It feels good to get our hands back on what we love doing.
Our team relishes a challenge and though distancing and masks are different, they do not hinder our team. With daily health assessments, critically monitored cleaning, six feet distance, and masks… we have been able to not just get back to work, but do so while feeling safe and therefore thrive!
Our dedication to each other has only grown through this time. With a Partner of ours facing some serious health issues, we banded together for small group, socially distant, story-swapping, and fund-raising lunches, in the end raising $4000 for a Partner in need.
We love crafting leather and custom pieces is something we excel in. We’ve taken time in the past weeks to find even more places that we could enhance efficiency and work to delight our customers even more. If you have ever wanted to know more about our custom strike-offs process, “take a peek inside the passion” in our newest casual video clip (below).
Sisters and VP’s of Townsend Leather, Sarah and Tricia, take you on a brief walkthrough of the process. With our full team geared up and ready, our passion for leather stoked, and our processes even more refined – we are anxious to take your dreams to reality. Contact us at info@townsendleather.com to start your own custom strike-off dream journey.
If you have a project in the works or just in dream stage, let us know. We are taking orders, we have stock ready to ship, we are in full production – making leather with love.
We are so grateful for the outpouring and continued message of love and support that we have received from so many customers and Townsend Leather fans over the past months. We are so grateful we have the tools, resources, team, and action-minded leadership to put us in a position where we can confidently and healthfully keep doing what we love.
We would love to hear from you during this unprecedented time, meet us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/TownsendLeatherCompany
Back in April, Townsend Leather President, Jared Eckler, was interviewed for the current edition of Business Aviation Magazine. The interview showcases Jared’s thoughtful responses to where he got his start and how Townsend fared through the earliest days of the COVID pandemic.
See the article here:
http://online.anyflip.com/yosh/ezgz/mobile/#p=36
Townsend is also featured in this edition with a heartfelt message from all of us to the industry, we are here to support, together.
The aircraft industry is an industry of connection. It is essential to our way of life and for bringing us into the future, we are proud to be part of it and we are proud to support this industry’s unfolding of a new era, in every way we can.
http://online.anyflip.com/yosh/ezgz/mobile/#p=16
Our passion for leather runs deep and we love being an American Made company with roots and history in our local community going back hundreds of years. The leather-stocking region of New York birthed Townsend Leather over 50 years ago and we still love the beauty and resources we are surrounded by in the foothills of the Adirondack mountains of our Townsend Leather campus which lead to that moment.
We are proud to be a Mortarr partner and be part of their inspiration and showcase broadcast, especially as we are a featured company in their American Made spotlight,
www.forum.mortarr.com/american-made
Townsend Leather is a “glass-half-full” type of place and so we feel strongly about the need for changes and growth – but we look to the future with hope and optimism.
Our American Made sensibility drives our pride for freedom in voting, in expressing, in hope. We are looking forward to a United States that is even more united for humans, for equality, for future.
Togetherness is a cornerstone element of Townsend Leather, it is what we have leaned on since the beginning of this pandemic and it is what we will lean on to grow and learn and listen, on into the future.
This 4th of July we invite you to find your own Togetherness celebration, it might not be physically with everyone you usually spend the 4th with, it might look and feel different, but togetherness can carry a sense of strength and hope and pride in it – when you focus on hope and growth and future.
Here’s to hand-crafted beauty!
Here’s to celebrations!
Here’s to the USA!
Here’s to freedom and voting and future!
Here’s to togetherness!
Love conquers all, even hate.
Because right now, listening, supporting, and loving is what matters most, we are proud to celebrate #PrideMonth.
Especially this month, we join in celebrating the overdue yet welcome news on the landmark Supreme Court ruling on Civil Rights Act Title VII that clearly states, “An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender defies the law,” – Justice Neil M. Gorsuch
Actions based in inclusivity, togetherness, love, and progress will always be supported and celebrated by Townsend Leather. There is still so far to go, but as we look out to the horizon, we feel a sense of hope and peace at the path forward.
One way Townsend Leather is taking action this month is in renewing our support of the HRC.
The Human Rights Campaign and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation together serve as America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve LGBTQ equality. By inspiring and engaging individuals and communities, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBTQ people and realize a world that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.
The Human Rights Campaign envisions a world where lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people are ensured equality and embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community. www.hrc.org
It is a mission we are proud to be connected to and will continue to support.
We are also proud to be able to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the historic and moving ruling from our Supreme Court in favor of nationwide marriage equality. Progress takes struggle. Progress takes time. We are proud to be able to be witness to progress and eagerly look toward a future of even more.
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