Garrett Leather

The Value of Leather

2012-02-01T09:43:00.000-08:00

During these challenging economic times, it may be difficult to find room in budgets to spend on leather. However, the additional money spent now may actually be the most cost-effective decision in the long run, because most quality leather tends to outlast other upholstery materials by up to five times longer. Many times leather is usable for generations, sometimes it even outlasts the furniture upon which it is upholstered!

Leather is a natural product that provides a stronger structural weave than many man-made products. Most man-made fabrics have a perpendicular patterned weave. Leather, on the other hand, has multiple layers of random fibers. These fibers provide superior strength and durability. Have you ever tried to puncture a hole into a piece of leather? It is not an easy task.

Torino^TM has a waterproof finish.

Many leather products are made to pass stringent abrasion, light fastness, and even flammability tests. Furthermore, most finished leather has water and stain repellents added, making leather an ideal option for high traffic areas.

In addition to the superior durability, using leather may also reduce maintenance costs. While some fabrics require harsh cleaning agents, most finished leather simply needs occasional light dusting with a slightly damp cloth. For spills, a clean, dry cloth should be used to blot the area immediately. A clean cloth, lukewarm water and a very mild soap may be used to treat an area with larger spots or stains. Leather should always be allowed to air dry naturally.

Leather has been known to last for generations, contributing to yet another cost-savings: replacement costs. You will not need to worry about re-upholstering again until you are ready. Until then, leather will develop a rich patina and wear beautifully for years to come.


The Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort and Spa, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. Garrett Vintage^®

Understanding Leather Price Points

2012-01-25T07:16:00.000-08:00

What is "quality leather"? Why are some leather products $2 a square foot while other products are $15 a square foot or more?

There are many factors that drive the price of leather. Lower prices do not necessarily translate into lower quality. Here are a few questions to consider before making your next leather purchase.

Where did the hides originate?
Where the hides originate plays a major role in the quality of the final product. In South America, the warmer, drier climate causes hides to have more bug bites and other flaws, resulting in lower cutting yields. Unfortunately, the demand for lower quality South American hides has contributed to the destruction of rainforests in Brazil. On the other hand, European hides, especially those from South Germany and Austria, provide the highest quality leather in the world. In Europe, artificial hormones are not used. Instead, the animals grow at a natural rate, resulting in tighter, stronger hides. In addition, ideal climate conditions reduce the number of bug bites and other flaws to the hide.

Where is the leather tanned?
Leather is tanned in Italy, China and in many parts of the world. However, not all countries have the same human rights concerns, equal pay, or environmental initiatives. Italy leads the world in producing the highest quality leather, while maintaining the highest standards for environmental responsibility.

What type of hide is being used?
Bull hides are larger and have a stronger fiber structure then cowhide. Therefore, products made from bull hide usually have a higher price point then those made from cowhide.

What is the quality of the raw material being used?
Upon arrival at the tannery, hides are inspected and separated into different grades based on the number of markings on each hide. Full grain products that maintain the natural grain require the highest grade of raw materials.

How is the product produced?
Leather production is a lengthy process. Producing one dyelot of leather may take between 8 to 12 weeks. In addition, some leather products require more procedures during the tanning process to achieve the characteristics of the end product. For example, a labor-intensive, time-consuming, manual technique is used to produce the unique two-tone effect of hand-tipped leather.

What additional costs does the company incur?
Some leather vendors are large, publicly owned companies with many employees and exclusive showrooms to maintain. Other leather suppliers are family-owned businesses with less over-head costs to pass on to the customer.

Garrett Leather offers superior quality, European, full grain, upholstery leather tanned in Italy. As an individually owned company, operation costs and overhead are carefully monitored, while customer service is a top priority. By specifying Garrett Leather, many designers are pleasantly surprised to find that they may purchase beautiful leather, receive superior service and pay reasonable prices, without sacrificing quality.

Introducing Shagarrett!

2011-09-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

Stingray Embossed Leather with NO Plate Lines

Eliminate the stress of working with half hide sizes and unattractive plate marks. Garrett Leather, a leading supplier of Italian upholstery leather, is proud to introduce Shagarrett. Shagarrett is the only full grain, stingray embossed, Italian leather available in full hides, with no unsightly plate lines. Shagarrett is also sold in half hides with NO additional cutting fee! All 16 colors are GREENGUARD certified and in stock for immediate shipment. Hides average 45 square feet.

Order samples or binder page here.

Product of the Month: Sheepskin

2011-08-02T05:12:00.000-07:00

Garrett’s plush, genuine Sheepskin provides the ultimate in seating comfort; cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Garrett’s Sheepskin is used primarily for pilot seats in aircraft, automotive seats, and as throw rugs in finer residences, though it may be used for furniture upholstery as well. The fleece is straight or “ironed, unclipped” with a length of approximately ¾”. Many colors are also available in natural curly fleece. Garrett’s Sheepskin averages nine square feet. All 21 colors are in stock and available for immediate shipment.
Learn more.

And the Winners Are!

2011-07-29T09:41:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete our survey! We received hundreds of responses and read each and every submission. To show our appreciation for all of the kind compliments and thoughtful suggestions, we will be sending a free Garrett canvas tote bag to everyone who responded.

We were so pleased with the number of responses that we decided to reward a Cabin Bag to three lucky winners of our grand prize drawing. The winners are:

Sharon Blair at Sussman/Prejza & Co. in Los Angeles, CA
Loralee Barlow at Chase Associates LLC in Salt Lake City, UT
Steven Roe at AAroeJac in St. Petersburg, FL

Congratulations!

In addition, based on your suggestions, Garrett’s complete color binder is now available in pdf format. You may download the entire color book here. Product binders and individual product pages will be available soon.

If you have additional suggestions or concerns, please email us anytime at info@garrettleather.com.

Enter to win a FREE Garrett Leather Cabin Bag!

2011-06-30T12:33:00.000-07:00

How are we doing?

Your feedback is extremely important to us. If you take our short customer survey, you will be entered to win a free Garrett Black Cabin Bag ($500 value).

Your complete satisfaction is our number one priority.

Good luck to you all!

Having Fun at NEWH

2011-06-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

The Los Angeles NEWH Regional Trade show was a TOTAL HIT! Michelle Nasca, the West Coast Customer Service Rep visited from NY HQ to show with Jessica Kalweit, Southern CA Outside Sales. They met with tons of hospitality designers, showing off our newest Native and DiModa products, and our gorgeous new accessories (& doled out some REALLY yummy candies!)

Garrett also sponsored an amazing after party in a private room upstairs at the Universal City Hilton. The party was complete with photobooth (seen right), a raffle and a fabulous spread and Garrett Danced the Night away with NEWH’s Founding Chapter.

Here’s to a great Neocon 2011!

2011-06-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

This year’s Neocon show was very well attended. Monday and Tuesday, we saw tons of designers stopping by Garrett’s booth to check out our new DiModa and Native leathers, while Wednesday was virtually a shopping spree for students picking samples from over 500 Garrett Leather colors. The hit of the show though, was our bright pink office chair, upholstered in DiModa Gatora Fuschia. While most of the office furniture community was displaying whites, greys, and beiges, Garrett went all out, with the help of Buffalo Office Interiors, showing off our new DiModa line.

DiModa Gatora Fuchcia Office Chair

Several seating manufacturers featured Garrett Leather for Neocon. Stylex was showing off Caressa Marina and Caressa Onyx leathers on its chairs, while Arcadia and their upscale Encore line was dazzling in Pearlessence Carbon and Lavender. High end seating needs high end leather and Garrett Leather delivered!

Thanks to everyone that stopped by to visit and see our new offerings. We are so excited about new things to come in the second half of the year and look forward to showing everything off at HD Boutique and NBAA 2011!

New Tex 210 Thread

2011-06-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

We've added to our thread inventory with 11 popular colors of Tex 210 bonded nylon thread. All colors are now available in eight-ounce spools and are currently in stock for immediate shipment.

11 New Colors in Tex 210 Thread

We also offer Tex 70 bonded nylon thread to match most leather colors. Over 60 thread colors are sold in four-ounce spools. Matching “G” bobbins are sold by the gross.

Contact us today to request your new Tex 210 binder page or Tex 70 binder page. www.garrettleather.com

Buffalo Corporate Challenge

2011-06-12T18:27:00.001-07:00

This past Thursday Garrett participated in the Buffalo Corporate Challenge. The Challenge had one of the best turnouts in it's history: 11,619 runners and walkers from 389 Western New York companies.

Buffalo Corporate Challenge Starting Line

This year we had 60% of our employees take part in the 3.5 mile run. Everyone finished in an hour, but our best runner, Sales Manager Max Brown ran a time of 29:20! Team captain, Marketing Director Roberta Sand, kept us motivated and organized, while our President Cam Brown threw us a great BBQ after the run where the rest of the company joined us. Aside from running for charity, the best part of the run is the time Garrett gets to spend bonding with other companies and with one another.

As usual, there were some great shirts this year. One of our favorites was by an advertising agency called The Martin Group and their shirt read, "Run TMG" playing off the band "Run DMC." Synacor also had a great shirt beckoning, "Scan us if you can" complete with a large QR code on the back of the shirt. We were also jealous of Wegmans and NOCO's really great looking tech shirts. The big winners of them all, however, were Time Warner Cable who took home the award for Most Creative Design, and Merchants Insurance Group walked away with Greenest Design.

Garrett didn't have a specific shirt this year, but next year we plan to go all out! A few of us were coming up with slogans on the run. If anyone out there has a great leather slogan/shirt idea we'd love to hear it!

Welcome!

2011-06-09T12:21:00.000-07:00

Garrett Leather 1360 Niagara Street in Buffalo, NY

Welcome to Garrett Leather's first ever blog! For those of you who don't know us, allow us to introduce ourselves. We are a privately owned wholesale distributor of gorgeous Italian upholstery leather. We specialize in aviation, corporate, residential, hospitality, yacht and automotive interiors.

What really sets us apart from all those other leather companies is that we have 2 million square feet of leather IN STOCK! That's right, if you order leather, we'll ship it in 24 hours. How's that for customer service?

So, that's us in a nut shell. We are really looking forward to blogging all about leather! Hopefully you'll learn something new and be entertained.

Enjoy!