Walsall Leather Maker Ettinger Keeps Making Wallets by Hand

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Ettinger, a family-owned luxury leather goods maker in Walsall, says online sales are up 30% on last year and UK sales are up by a fifth, with shoppers starting in their early 20s. Chief executive Robert Ettinger puts it down to younger customers who want something that lasts and can be repaired. He recently repaired his own wallet, which is 17 years old.

Every Ettinger wallet is built from 28 pieces. A hydraulic press cuts them, the edges are thinned, and the parts are turned, glued and stitched by hand.

"You can't bring in robots," Ettinger says of the process.

A shrinking trade

His father founded the brand in 1934 after fleeing Nazi Germany. The company moved production to Walsall in the 1990s, when it bought a supplier, James Homer, established in 1890. Factory manager Gary Billingham has worked there since the 1980s, when three pages of the Yellow Pages listed leather factories in the area. Today there are about five.

Ettinger cut about seven jobs after the Covid pandemic hit trade.

Robert Ettinger says he never seriously considered moving production overseas. Doing so might have meant more profit, he says, but also more competition, because with 50 companies importing a purse from the far east, "it's all about price."

The bestseller is still the wallet. The range also includes pill containers, cigar cases and items for dog owners. Ettinger holds royal warrants from King Charles and Queen Camilla.

The hiring problem

Growth is limited by staff. Billingham says the team is aged from their 40s to 60s and taking on five to 10 people "would be great but the reality is they are not there." Even graduates of Walsall's Leather Skills Centre tend to move into car upholstery or saddles. Ettinger points to apprenticeships in mainland Europe, where trainees spend years learning a trade before becoming a master.

Source: The Guardian