Native Leather

I could shop here all day long. From belts, to bags to unique items they have something for everyone. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful. It is hard to find stores like this in the village anymore. I highly recommend this location either for shopping or window shopping.

I went into Native Leather today because it’s close to where I work, seemed like a ncie place, and I read that they did leather repairs. I had orderd a leather bag from India that came damaged with a slit in the leather from a knife used to open it’s package in customs.
A lady greeted me but was less than happy to help me. She literally said to me, «I don’t know why you people buy these things off the internet, when you could buy better leather here. That’s what you get.» She proceeded to tell me that my bag was bad leather and that «she wouldn’t touch it.»
I was pretty shocked by her lack of willingness to help and her negative attitude in general. Not good business and although I was interested in the goods there, I won’t be going back.
After that, I went to a guy at a place called Yakub on Sullivan between W.3^rd and Bleecker, and he was more than willing to help me out right away. He gets the money.

$ 20 to make a small keyring… hmm to expensive. They do have a vast range of leather goods though.

Actually, Native Leather was originally called Natural Leather – and when they have the hatch to the basement open you can see «Natural Leather» painted on the underside. When the store changed ownership, they changed the name, but to something close to «Natural Leather.»
It is a true hippie leather store, and one of their best products is their custom leather sandals made from a tracing of your foot. They’ll do all repairs on them, and these will last you years and years – trust me. Carol is the woman who runs the store, and Josh is the estranged son of Dick, the founder. («I was a sandal slave,» Josh told me once about his summers growing up, making sandal parts. He also told me once that Dick was the «sandal king,» which he is.)
You can get leather hats, bags, and belts, in addition to the aforementioned sandals. It’s a great place to hang out, too.

I am an audiophile (or someone who carries around a huge rig with iPod + portable amplifier + digital to analog converter + headphone, ho hum…). I needed something to carry it around in since my cheap plastic bags from Subzi Bazaar, even as it provided a nice camouflage for my $ 2K rig, invariably tore open half way on every journey. So, here I was.
After 30 minutes of frantically searching, I finally found a saddle bag (that is used by men on horse back, you know) which could fit my rig and a portable headphone in, at a price that did not exceed the cost of my rig. Kidding — just cost me about $ 90. Not bad at all.
What is amazing is the willingness of the lady in the shop (I know it is a shame but I do not remember her name) to work with me in finding it. She never stopped smiling (even though she made an assumption that I lived in Jersey City because I said I was basically from India) and was very pleasant and helpful.
Next time, I am skipping all the steps in between and heading there straight.

What a great store and a dying breed in NYC. This is a small and very unique and original Leather shop with all kinds of rare and common leather goods. They have bags, belts, hats and so many other cool items. The staff is helpful and friendly and I have found some really cool gifts for friends and family here. The owners go all over the country and globe to seek out intersting leather products and have one of the most creative collections of products. As more and more of «old» New York disappears and is replaced by corporate chain stores, this small, «mom and pop» hold-​out packs a powerful punch and is worth checking out on any trip to the city. They always get new things in so it is worth a trip every few months…

No other place in Manhattan can make a city boy feel like a bandido from the old West like Native Leather. From floor to rafter, the place is packed with the fragrance of rawhide; every inch packed densely with belts, vests, buckles, lighters, five and ten gallon hats, and … yes, knives. When the last America heard of the rugged outback was from an Aussie in NYC who claimed, «Tha’s no’ a knife,» Native Leather can outfit your urban badlands faster than you can say, «Shrimp on the barbie.» Sadly, the location has been overrun by tourists and the bridge-​and-​tunnel crowd; its stables at the cashier’s lost to the highways where once the staggeringly hip New Yorker had trail blazed while whistling, «Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.» As of today, the Dixie that’s being whistled by the shop keepers is that they’re still here, in business by a shoe string, and even while «Cowboy» is alive and thriving on yonder shores of Williamsburg, in The Village, vintage may just be, if cowpokes don’t come sauntering back, riding off into the sunset like the Marlboro Man.

Very high-​quality imported, domestic, and vintage leather (and fur) goods for a good price. Plus the business has been around for years and years — apparently they’ve been making custom sandals since 1968!
The long-​haired hippie/​biker-​ish dude there is very nice, and the other guy there is gruff but helpful. I got a great deal on a bag there.