About Us
Here's a little information about Taylor's Leatherwear.
In 1939 Mr. Lee Soesbe started making leather jackets
in his garage with leather he obtained from Lannom Tannery in Tullahoma.
His leatherwear operation began to grow and prosper while his full time
job was as sales manager for Lannom Tannery.
As the leatherwear shop grew Mr. Soesbe hired Goerge A.
"RED" Taylor to manage the leatherwear and leather jacket shop as he
was fresh out of the Navy in the mid-forties.
Soon after hiring Mr. Taylor the leatherwear shop outgrew
the garage and they opened up shop on Atlantic St. in Tullahoma. Also
about that time Mr. Soesbe went to North Carolina and bought a defunct
tanning operation named "Appalachian Tanning". He moved the tanning
operation to Tullahoma, hooked it up with the leatherwear factory and
thus a vertical monopoly was formed. "Appalachian Tanning" & "Soesbe
& Potter Leather Co." was born about 1945.
Mr. Soesbe ran the leather tannery and "Red" Taylor ran
the leatherwear factory. They bought hides, tanned them, cut them and
then sewed them into jackets all under one roof. They sold to folks
like "Sears", "J.C. Penny" and "Montgomery Ward" and all major domestic
retailers.
Appalachian Tanning & "Soesbe 7 Potter" employed at its
peak about 200 people. They also had a small cleaning division.
In the early 60's Mr. Soesbe sold the leatherwear operation
(renamed Appalachian Sportswear) to a man named Ralph Edwards form Cape
Giradreau, Missouri. He operated a couple of years in Tullahoma then
decided to move the operation back to Missouri (Appalachian Sportswear
closed for good in the mid 70's). Mr. Taylor, being a local man, did
not want to move. His only skills were in the leatherwear business so
he decided to open Taylor's Leatherwear in 1966 on East Coffee St. in
Tullahoma.
Mr. Taylor and family were very successful in the leatherwear
business and made leather jackets until 1977. Their peak employment
was about 14 people. They specialized in custom made leatherwear
garments. In June of 1977 Mr. Taylor was ready for retirement from
the leatherwear business and thus sold out to a neighbor and friend
David Patton.
Taylor's Leatherwear continued to sew exclusively in Tullahoma
for over 20 years; sewing for every major Law enforcement agency in
the United States and for major corporations like Fedex.
Around the year 2000 Taylor's decided to begin having
some of its jackets globally sourced so they could remain competitive
in the leatherwear industry by offering great jackets at great value.
Hopefully Taylor's with your support, will endure
for another century.
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