The Saddler’s Post – Steve Derricott

Saddlers & leather workers from around the world join host Christian Lowe to share stories and secrets on the leather trade and the art and life of making, repairing, and selling saddles and other equipment for horses.

Steve Derricott had experienced success as an exploration geologist and was looking for a career change in 1985. He felt there was a potential in the Gfeller Casemakers business that had not been developed. His idea was simple and he had the history of cyclic metal prices and exploration demand on his side. He knew that the reason for hard times at Gfeller Casemakers was due primarily to a down cycle in field crew employment. The historical response of mineral exploration activities to fluctuating metal prices suggested that an upswing in demand was to be expected. If he could acquire the business and learn the operations while demand was low, the Company would be poised to grow when demand returned. He believed the key to long term success, for the company, was to diversify before the sure to follow down swing arrived. With help and constant support from his wife Lori, the Derricott team rebuilt Gfeller Casemakers. They were fortunate to attract custom manufacturing work that solidified the business and spread the demand away from seasonal Geoscience to year-round contracts. Customers as diverse as electronics manufacturers and custom knife makers to the Military Academy at West Point New York helped to grow a diversified Gfeller Casemakers. Changing markets have challenged the company and new products have been added to the lineup.

A custom order request for a calfskin notebook cover (2007) would prove very fortuitous. Not unlike the request to build a student geologists field pouch, over sixty years earlier, this notebook cover and its acclaim on the internet launched a demand for new items to new customers. Suddenly Gfeller Casemakers became the focus of blogs and tweets by customers that had recently discovered the profoundly functional notebook covers and personal leather products.

HISTORY OF GFELLER LEATHER CASEMAKERS – Roy Gfeller and his wife Mertie lived near Aurora Colorado in 1946. Roy was scraping by on a small acreage raising a few cows and doing part time saddle building and repair. He was an outgoing individual and made friends easily. Little is known about the ranching operation other than his desire to one day have his own place and raise purebred Short Horn Herford beef cattle. Much more information is available concerning his leather work. His journal contains details of saddle construction and most importantly shows an early disposition for purchasing only the best materials. High quality materials and attention to detail are to be vitally important in developing his future business as a Casemaker. His reputation for using only the best parts of the hide in his products will help to spread his work to every corner of the globe.

Gfeller Casemakers, Inc. is a proven leader in the supply of high quality leathergoods for the working professional. From 1946 to the present we have established the mark that others have consistently fallen short of in providing quality leathergoods at fair prices.
This leadership position is one we take extremely seriously. We are keenly aware of our responsibilities and our vulnerabilities in this leadership position. We craft each and every product as though our continued survival depends on that particular item…Because it does.

We are a stronger organization today because we have never departed from Roy’s insistence on premium raw materials, no nonsense designs and most importantly we enjoy our work. – Steve Derricott

Visit: https://gfeller.us

Christian Lowe Leather Care

A unique blend of soap, oils, beeswax and the wonderful properties of tea tree prepared in small batches in our studio located in Southern Ontario.

Visit: christianlowe.ca