From garage startup to mill space in Lewiston, entrepreneur leads growth of leather-product business
Courtesy / C. Richard's Leather
Chris Lobley started his business in his parents’ garage and recently expanded to 9,000 square feet, employing seven people, at the Hill Mill in Lewiston.
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Chris Lobley started C. Richard's Leather seven years ago, saving and investing in equipment to develop and manufacture custom leather patch hats and beanies.
The business’s success soon prompted a search for larger quarters. He toured the Hill Mill in Lewiston and fell in love with it. Advantages included the volume of available space, ability to tailor it for specific operations and the way his business echoed its textile past. Mill owner Eric Chinburg helped with the cost of renovation.
With a mission of using U.S. leather and thread in partnership with Springfield, Ore., headwear maker Richardson Sports, Lobley, 26, recently expanded from 1,800 to 9,000 square feet, employs seven people and annually sells tens of thousands of units, primarily wholesale.
We asked Lobley about the evolution of his company. Here’s an edited transcript.
Mainebiz: How did you start the business?
Chris Lobley: I started my business out of my parents' garage in Poland. I was a one-man operation.
MB: When did you move into the Hill Mill?
CL: 2020. I was looking for additional space to grow my business. In my research, I noticed there was a large amount of space available in Lewiston, in the Hill Mill in particular. I found the space online. I toured the mill and fell in love with it and moved the business into 1,800 square feet on the sixth floor. The business has grown tremendously over the last three years. So we recently moved again to the fourth floor and have worked with Eric Chinburg to renovate 9,000 square feet. We did a complete overhaul and added walls, plumbing, electrical. Now I have seven employees and work with my wife, who has helped me grow the business. The mill has been an instrumental element in scaling. [Mill manager] John Fanning and Eric have been a huge part in this renovation.
MB: Had you looked at other potential spaces?
CL: The mill has several specific advantages — in large part, volume of space and the capacity for outfitting the space to be tailored specifically for our business. It’s a blank slate. It was an open floor that we had to renovate, and that allowed us to fit up the space in a way that would be beneficial for our business.
The story of these mills is tremendous as well, and the built-in character in these buildings — you can’t beat it. It’s like living history. We’re bringing back sewing machines and leather and we’re making products that were made in this mill decades ago. It’s neat to be part of that restoration process.
MB: What’s your specialty?
CL: Custom leather patch hats, with personalization and stitching. Richardson Headwear provides our hats and beanies. We use American bison leather and American thread. We do all the patchwork in-house and we’re looking to grow and expand our business in Lewiston.
MB: Any particular benefits to being in Lewiston?
CL: I think there’s a lot of growth opportunity in Lewiston. The old mills in particular have a massive volume of space available to grow a business. That’s really been the case for us.
Another big element is that Lewiston is centrally located. I have employees who commute from Gardiner and Turner. Being in Lewiston makes it a viable commute for both. And it’s easy to ship product. We ship around the country via the post office and UPS.
MB: How did you become interested in leatherwork?
CL: I’ve always had a love for business. Out of high school I was looking for something I could make with my hands and make a living doing. Leather was an interest. When COVID happened, the whole commercial landscape changed, which required that I reevaluate my business model. I was making hats at the time, at a smaller scale. I saw potential in that market for growth. I decided to tap into the B2B market — selling wholesale to other businesses. We incentive bulk discounts. That’s our specialty.
MB: What’s on the horizon?
CL: We’re looking to growing the coming year with the emphasis on American made. I can see many other businesses in Lewiston are doing the same. And the cost of doing business in Lewiston is significantly lower than the surrounding area. Rent rates are generally much lower in Lewiston than surrounding areas, particularly Southern Maine, and there’s more space availability. That’s played a role in us being here. And the mill is a fantastic community of like-minded business people.
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