Anvil Customs opens storefront to large Art Walk crowd

Leather goods shop Anvil Customs LLC opened its doors Aug. 7 at 134 Park Central West, Ste. 110, during First Friday Art Walk, drawing a crowd of between 300 and 400 people, owner Ryan Wasson said.

“I tried to keep a count, but I was so busy,” Wasson said, adding sales of T-shirts and merchandise totaled around $1,500 for the evening. “I wasn’t expecting to do much business, but it completely blew me away.”

Wasson said the 1,500-square-foot location in the former Woolworth building is leased from Tillman Redevelopment LLC for undisclosed terms. All of Anvil’s good are produced with USA-made materials, with belts and wallets ranging from $40 to $200 and bags and motorcycle seats between $400 and $1,200.

In addition to purchasing leather from St. Louis’ Hermann Oak Leather Co. and Curwensville, Penn.-based Wickett & Craig Inc., Wasson said he also buys materials from Springfield Leather Co. and is collaborating with local handcrafting business The 1906 Gents on new items, including a leather wrap for Mason jar drinking glasses.

Some items feature artwork created either by a commissioned artist or Wasson himself, and once a certain number of each design has been made he retires it.

“People desire that in any art form,” Wasson said of the original, limited edition offerings. “It’s a big draw.”
Wasson, a Springfield native, started Anvil in 2005 and the company remained an online-only business until Friday’s opening. Wasson said he and his family moved to Florida in 2014 and returned to the Queen City earlier this year after an increase in demand for the company’s goods made it apparent he would need workspace and help to fill online orders.

Wasson said the company grossed approximately $284,000 in sales last year and is on track to exceed $300,000 this year. The downtown shop primarily is a manufacturing space where he and Mike Shepherd, his leather production manager, fill an average of 120 orders a month for hand-tooled items, but Wasson said interest from local customers prompted him to open on a monthly basis for Art Walk.

“That doesn’t mean I won’t swing a door open for big events on the square,” Wasson said, adding he plans to open the storefront for the Route 66 Festival scheduled Aug.14-16 in downtown Springfield. “I want to keep anticipation up.”