Mountain-inspired leatherwork company sets its sights on high-quality  

  By Lynn Ascrizzi 

 ”People like to feel the leather. We can show, how a product ages on a wallet or handbag or other essential item — that it’s part of its beauty.” 

      — Svein Staaby 

Like many small businesses, Ansgar Leather Co., based in St. Louis, Missouri, grew slowly at first. 

“When I started doing leather work, I was just looking for a hobby,” recalled Svein Staaby, 33, cofounder of the leather business with his wife, Jill Staaby, 31. 

The company was officially launched in 2018, in the Virginia foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

“In general, mountains have a lot to do with my desire to make long-lasting products,” Svein noted. “If gear fails on a hiking or camping trip – a tent rips or a backpack busts on you — it makes you appreciate quality craftsmanship. My love for the mountains gives me a desire to create pieces that you’re going to keep and use, day in and day out. Leather is the perfect material for that.” 

Prior to leatherwork, Svein had been a full-time physical education teacher who taught three-year-olds through 8^th graders.  In order to help support his passion for creating a leather business, Svein was still teaching part-time as the business grew.  Jill had worked for a nonprofit, doing marketing and communications. 

“I was lucky,” Svein said. “The school I taught at had a part-time teaching role. I cut down teaching to half-time in 2020, and we jumped into Ansgar Leather.” 

Then, in the summer of 2022, Jill left her former job to work full time in the growing leather business. “That was shortly before we decided to open our storefront,” she said, of the 600-square-foot space that functions as their retail space and also a workshop, where they do leatherwork. 

Ansgar Leather Co. products use full-grain cowhide to create everyday items like wallets, journals, bags and other accessories. 

“We use natural toned leather with accent colors, like green and blue and burgundy, that reflects our love for the mountains and the outdoors. That love really comes through in our etchings of topographic maps, which depict actual mountains,” Svein noted. His designs are inspired by his love of hiking in places like Colorado, Virginia, Maine and more. 

“I do a little bit of everything — from the leathercrafting side to designing and making, to purchasing supplies, such as leather, hardware and thread,” he said. “Jill is our store manager. She helps keep the retail space organized and makes some of the accessories.”   

This includes making their coasters, key chains, bracelets and smaller accessories. “It’s a great learning experience,” she said. “I’ve come on board with little to no leatherwork experience, prior to this. So, it’s been a fun adventure — being able to learn how to make small leather accessories. Also, I have been using my marketing and communication skills to help with promoting our store and running the website.”   

They were thankful to have steady employment while growing a new business, but holding down a part-time job had its drawbacks.  

“It slowed our growth,” Svein acknowledged, noting that the extra job didn’t provide sufficient time to make surplus inventory for every single leather product. However, to some degree, he was able to work around that obstacle by creating made-to-order products and by offering more design variations.  

GROWING A BUSINESS 

When they moved to St. Louis, the business took off. “St. Louis was a more accessible location than central Virginia. It’s easier to get places and to do things. It has a city feeling,” Svein said. 

The decision to move to that city, however, was not directly part of a business plan. Most of Jill’s family is from that area, so the move created a stronger connection with her close family. 

“Since we’ve started, we’ve been fortunate to double our growth each year. Now, we’re both working in the business full time and we’ve found we make a great team,” Jill said. 

Svein pointed out some of the positive changes and attitudes that have led to their successful business growth. For one, they take pride in their community and in being a local business. Prior to opening the storefront, they have been involved with the Tower Grove Farmer’s Market, located in St. Louis city, only a mile from the single-family home that Svein and Jill share with their golden retriever shop dog, Nova. 

“Every Saturday, we meet different people. The market is why we’re here today. They have about 120 vendors, every Saturday. We feel fortunate to be in this position where we live,” he said.  

Another tangible boost was brought by their Ansgar Leather Co. storefront., which opened December 3, 2022.  

“We had a great sale, a grand opening. Once we opened the storefront, the phone started ringing,” Svein said. He pointed out that their company also benefitted from the instant name recognition that their close, ongoing involvement with local markets brought them.   

The rented storefront also enables Svein and Jill to keep products in stock and to work on collections of products, as opposed to strictly doing the made-to-order approach. “People like to feel the leather. We can show how leather ages on a wallet or handbag or other essential item — that is part of its beauty,” he said. 

And then, there is the gift that comes from liking your work. “We enjoy getting to interact with customers who come to the store. We’re still learning. We’ve only been open for two months,” Jill said, in late winter. The number of customers they see at the store varies from day to day. 

Meanwhile, Svein’s teaching background is prompting his plan to offer leatherwork classes in the store. “We may choose, for example, an item like a card-holder wallet. We’ll bring participants coffee and make it more of an in-person experience. We plan to sit down with people in an atmosphere of creativity,” he said. 

“Our storefront is close to where we live in South St. Louis. Just having a physical presence, so people can come in and shop in our store, allows for growth. Our store is right next to a coffee shop and a restaurant, so we get a lot of interest from people walking by and coming in,” she said. 

What’s next?   

“For us, it’s that we continue to find new growth opportunities,” Jill said. “Since we opened the storefront, we will want to keep building on the growth that we’ve experienced over the last few years. Offering classes is our next step. The classes are a new venture for us.” 

LEARN MORE: 

Ansgar Leather Company 

Svein & Jill Staaby, co-owners 

1-314-252-8914 

Website: https://ansgarleather.co/ 

Email: ansgarleatherco@gmail.com 

Instagram: @ansgarleatherco