The Little Leather Shop: Online sales coming
Shelly Beach, KZN, SA – David Boulanger started out making leather sandals, belts and hats from his VW Kombi in Jeffrey’s Bay in the 1970s, and has been in business as The Little Leather Shop since 1980. He and wife, Ivy, are about to launch online retail – prompted by the slow recovery of business post-covid.
The business includes a workshop, where they continue to make products under their Totem brand, and the retail shop, which sells a broader range, including branded travel goods. The bought-in brands are the bigger side of the business.
“We’re not doing as well as we were,” he said. “Previously, we were sustained by the holiday periods and up-country visitors, but these July holidays, although the roads were busy, business wasn’t. With the cost of toll roads, petrol and accommodation, visitors don’t have a lot left over. It’s quite a serious situation.”
Online is new territory, and “we know it will involve a lot of work”, he said, “but although we’re in our 70s, we’re still going for it”. The website will be www.totemsleather.co.za.
He has developed a thumb brace for himself “because my joints are messed up from all these years of leather work”, and he hopes that, too, will become a popular item.
