GRAVETTE — Another new business has opened on Gravette Main Street this week. Country Man Leather opened its doors on Tuesday at 105 Main St., S.E., in the building formerly occupied by Downtown Dealz. Owners Charles and Jessica Stafford are Mississippi natives who loved the area and chose to settle here to live and operate their business.
Charles is a native of Hazelhurst, Miss., and Jessica lived in Brookhaven. They met at junior college in Wesson, Miss. They married at age 19 and have been married almost 18 years. He is an Army veteran who served for seven years, working as an aircraft mechanice. More recently, he has been working as a pipeliner. He is working now in Iowa but hopes to finish the job soon and return to Gravette to help his wife run the shop.
Charles produces all the leatherwork sold in the shop. His interest in leatherwork started four years ago when the family lived in Michigan. He bought a pair of boots from a custom leather worker there and became interested in his handiwork. He bought some equipment from the man and began producing his own leather items. After he completed a few projects, Jessica said she thought, "Hey, he's really good at this."
The Staffords have three children. The oldest, Chuckie, 16, is home schooled. He is a big sports fan and loves playing football and riding dirt bikes. Conner, 14, is an eighth grader at Gravette middle school. He is the artistic one and loves to draw and paint. Their sister, Cassidy, 12, is a seventh grader at GMS. She is interested in fashion and was a model in a New York fashion show last year. She also participates in English riding and jumping.
The couple has some property in Mississippi. Charles' father owns 300 acres and they still have a house there and visit for vacations. Many areas of the state suffer from a depressed economy, however, and the pipelining business is hard on a family, Jessica said, with all the traveling and long absences from home. When they began to talk about starting a business of their own, friends in Rogers encouraged them to come to this area.
The Staffords investigated the Eureka Springs area and, although they liked the town, it just wasn't quite the atmosphere they were seeking. They continued to explore possibilities in the area and when they found the building for sale in Gravette, the good schools here were a deciding factor, Jessica said. They bought the property and moved to town in July.
Leather products featured in the shop include purses, wallets, belts, holsters and leather bracelets. Charles will make custom guitar straps, do custom leather work and leather repair. He hopes to expand into tack in the future.
"Charles' purses are a work of art," Jessica says. "He lines them with soft, high quality pigskin and they are really beautiful. I've been trying to get him to make one for me and he says I'm on the list."
If you're looking for quality footwear, Country Man Leather also carries Justin boots, mainly their line of work boots, and several brands of ladies' fashion boots. They will sell the popular Yellow Box sandals in summer.
The shop carries jewelry, mostly western-style earrings, necklaces and bracelets, and 1803 candles, a line of fragrant soy-based candles made in Illinois.
Business hours at Country Man Leather are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The telephone number is 479-344-6150. An official opening and ribbon cutting for the shop will be held Friday, Dec. 2, at 11 a.m.
Community on 11/09/2016