Tim and Meg Allen offer a wide range of high-quality, handmade leather products, as well as specialty vintage items, at their unique downtown store.

Chippewa Valley Mercantile & Leather Works is now open at 210 N. 2nd Ave., next to the State Theater in Alpena. A grand opening is planned for 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, with live music, cider and cookies, and a lot of friendly mingling.

“We specialize in American-made vintage clothing,” Tim Allen said of the clothing side of the business. “Anything from the era of the 1930s up to even the 90s. So, we like to pick special garments and clothing, leather jackets, old hunting wool coats, things that were made in America and built to last.”

He said pickers who work for them look for high-quality items in good condition to be featured in their store.

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Some of the wares offered at Chippewa Valley Leather Works.

“A lot of people don’t realize how large the vintage clothing industry is,” he said. “We take our time. We go through a lot of stuff to find it, and we try to bring the best stuff we can.”

The couple is originally from Alpena, and now make their home in Ossineke.

“The leather goods, we specialize in making that,” Tim Allen said. “Meg and I stitch everything, and we’re kind of getting into canvas and leather, also, so she does some canvas and leather tote bags, and I do a lot of wallets, journals, that kind of stuff.”

In addition to a wide variety of stylish wallets, bags, and belts, they offer leather earrings and even earbud pouches. A full selection of handmade items is available on their website.

Tim Allen explained the stitching process.

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Leather wallets handmade by Tim and Meg Allen, including their special tie-dyed leather in front.

“We do hand stitch on most of the small items, and then the larger stuff, like the bags, we sew on an industrial sewing machine, and then it’s copper riveted,” he said. “So, everything is done with copper and brass rivets.”

They use thick and durable leather to create pieces that, if cared for properly, could withstand decades of use.

“We have a variety of leathers that we use,” Meg Allen noted. “Some of it is Kodiak. Right now, we have some navy blue. We have some leather called latigo, and it’s more of a red color. It’s all real, high-quality leather.”

“In our leather products, we use a lot of what’s called ‘vegetable-tanned’ leather, which is basically an undyed leather,” Tim Allen said, adding that only natural ingredients are used in the tanning process. “What people love about a vegetable-tanned leather is it gets its own patina over time. So, over use with your hands, the oils in your hands, and direct sunlight on it kind of tans it and turns it from a light almost whitish color, to a caramelized brown.”

He said they also use oil-tanned leathers with a soft and smooth finish.

News Photo by Darby Hinkley A thick leather tote bag with copper rivets and leather handles.

“It’s all real, 100% leather,” Meg Allen said. “It’s made to last for a long time.”

“When you pick up one of our items, you can just feel that it’s thicker and a higher quality,” Tim Allen added. “We want to have it to where, if you buy a wallet from us, it’s going to last what it would be, buying 10 wallets over 10 to 20 years.”

They also specialize in a technique that you won’t find many others doing.

“We make a unique product that is tie-dyed leather,” Meg Allen said. “Right now, we do tie-dye in blue and green. It reminded us of the lake.”

She added that they have also been tie-dyeing with red, “but we are still working on perfecting the red.”

Courtesy Photo Leather wallets available at Chippewa Valley Leather Works.

They moved into the storefront just last week, but had been working out of a different space on Water Street for about three months prior to that. They had been doing pop-up markets on weekends with the same types of items since 2011, when they lived in Missouri.

“We started working with leather about 2009, 2010,” Tim Allen said. “So we’ve been just kind of honing our skills with that, just expanding and getting better.”

He explained why it is important to purchase goods made in the U.S.

“I think a lot of industry is coming back to America,” he said. “I think people want things that are made by Americans here, and realizing the quality of it is huge … I believe people just like American-made items, and that’s what we want to bring.”

Store hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. The store is closed on Sunday and Monday.

Courtesy Photos Leather earrings available at Chippewa Valley Leather Works.

To contact the Allens, call 816-521-0110 or 816-209-8663. For more information, visit Chippewa Valley Mercantile on Facebook, @chippewa–valley–mercantile on Instagram, or chippewavalleyleatherworks.com.

Darby Hinkley is Lifestyles editor. She can be reached at 989-358-5691 or dhinkley@thealpenanews.com.