Auburn Leathercrafters makes pet products, other goods

Auburn Leathercrafters is a family-owned business on Washington Street. Pictured, from left, are Chris, Anita and Alan Dungey.

AUBURN — As the third-generation owner of Auburn Leathercrafters, Alan Dungey is proud of what the family-run business has achieved since it was founded in 1950.

Auburn Leathercrafters, which is on Washington Street, manufactures pet products — dog collars, leashes, toys and more — that are sold in the U.S. and to customers in other countries, including Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom. The leather goods are handmade and, according to Dungey, are mostly made with domestic products. Whatever can't be found in the U.S. is sourced responsibly, he said, to find the best quality.

The concept for Auburn Leathercrafters began with William Merritt, who founded Simplex Manufacturing Company. Merritt, Dungey said, actually created the Auburn Leathercrafters company, but it was never launched.

"He had equipment. He had a name. He had an idea of what the product line would be," Dungey told The Citizen. "And then the U.S. got involved in World War II and other areas of his business took off. Auburn Leathercrafters got shelved."

How it wound up in the Dungey family is the product of a friendship between Alan's grandfather, Everett, and Merritt.

Everett Dungey met Merritt while working in sales for Bastian Brothers in Rochester. They became friends and Dungey learned of "this company in a box," Alan says.

To buy Auburn Leathercrafters, Everett Dungey sold a camp he owned in the Adirondacks. His acquisition of Auburn Leathercrafters included the equipment and name of the company.

In the early days of Auburn Leathercrafters, Everett Dungey would spend a week manufacturing products and then another selling them. He would call hardware stores, feed stores and pet shops to find places where he could sell his products.

Auburn Leathercrafters began to grow with the addition of a few employees, which allowed Everett Dungey to focus on sales. Gordon Dungey, Alan's father, joined the company as a sales representative. He was tasked with contacting stores in the Northeast and setting up sales territories.

When Everett Dungey died in 1963, Gordon Dungey became the new owner of Auburn Leathercrafters.

One of Gordon Dungey's achievements was the Agway account. For more than 30 years, Agway was Auburn Leathercrafters' biggest customer. The agricultural business, which had 600 stores in the Northeast, carried pet supplies manufactured by Auburn Leathercrafters — "everything but the food for dogs and cats," Alan said.

Agway closed its stores in 1999, which was a blow to Auburn Leathercrafters. The company manufactured private labels for other companies, but Alan says they lost their brand identity.

In 2005, Alan and his wife, Anita, bought Auburn Leathercrafters and relaunched it into the pet market.

Auburn Leathercrafters owner Alan Dungey provides a tour of the company's manufacturing space.

The Dungeys grew Auburn Leathercrafters by focusing primarily on manufacturing dog collars, leashes, harnesses and toys. The company does take on custom projects. It has made tool pouches for Nucor Steel employees and leather sheaths for Currier Plastics to cover blow molding blades. Other work includes making leather accessories for MacKenzie-Childs and camera straps for Domke, a photography accessory brand. One of the camera straps was worn by former President Bill Clinton during the White House correspondents' dinner.

Auburn Leathercrafters has also assisted first responders in the aftermath of major disasters. The company manufactured a few dozen leather boots for rescue dogs working at the site of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. Six years later, they made rescue boots used by dogs at ground zero following the Sept. 11 attacks.

One of the Auburn Leathercrafters' product lines is "a tail we could wag," which is a partnership with weavers in Guatemala. It was a business operated by a dog collar manufacturer, who sold it to the Dungeys. They have maintained the contracts with the weavers and the fabric is used to make belts, dog collars and leashes.

A changing business landscape presents new obstacles for Auburn Leathercrafters. Its customer base is high-end pet stores, but there are fewer of those shops and customers are shifting to buying pet products online. Retail stores aren't carrying as many products because it's difficult to compete with the online marketplace, Alan Dungey explained.

"Through that process, we're seeing a lot of our wholesale business shrinking," he said. "That's our biggest challenge today."

Auburn Leathercrafters is pursuing other markets. The company has increased its online presence and attends arts and crafts festivals. Those events are encouraging, Anita Dungey says, because you get feedback from customers and retail shops.

The Dungeys are encouraged about the future of the 74-year-old company. Their son, Chris, is involved with the day-to-day operations and works on the manufacturing floor. The couple's daughter, Laura, has contributed artwork and helps with editing.

For Alan Dungey, Auburn Leathercrafters remains a source of pride.

"It's in our blood," he said.

The latest installment in the "Made in Auburn" series focuses on Auburn Leathercrafters, a three-generation pet products manufacturer on Washington Street.

Made in Auburn is a series featuring manufacturers in and around the city. To suggest a company for a future story in the series, email [email protected], call (315) 282-2220 or message @auburncitizen on Facebook.

Government reporter Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

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