Awl Snap Leather Goods
Photo by Shanaz Bowman.
When Erin McRoberts quit a steady 9-5 at a Richmond marketing firm in 2013 to make her part-time business a full-time gig, the leather maker envisioned one day running a small shop where she could build relationships with her customers, she says, like the butcher, the baker and the .… well, you get it. She doesn’t have the bricks and mortar yet, but today, the success of McRoberts’ online business is bringing her closer to that dream. She designs and makes all of her products by hand in a studio in the city’s maker-mecca district of Manchester. In one year, she has quadrupled sales of her custom bags and accessories, but if it’s trendy you’re looking for, McRoberts isn’t it. Her bags are meant to get better with age. One of McRoberts’ most popular items is the 20-inch by 23-inch Hotshot Weekender, whose supple, reinforced leather bottom fits a week’s worth of stuff as comfortably as it does just a few outfits, thanks to a pliable waxed-cotton canvas upper that rolls down to buckle and conform to the load. $355. AwlSnap.com
See all the Made in Virginia 2014 Winners!
Style
Nordt Family Farm, Charles City
Moonrise Jewelry, Cape Charles
Awl Snap Leather Goods, Richmond
Home
Moore & Giles, Forest
Cricket Cove Soap, Glen Allen
Buckingham Slate Company, Arvonia
New Ravenna, Exmore
Fielding Archer Designs, Midlothian
Kala Studios, Arlington
Food
Rappahannock River Oysters, Topping
Red Truck Bakery, Warrenton
Pickled Silly, Richmond
Glass House Winery, Free Union
Willie Byrd Sauce, Richmond
La Vache Microcreamery Caramels, Charlottesville
FERIDIES 5 O’Clock Crunch, Courtland
Drink
Three Ships Coffee, Virginia Beach
Commonwealth Gin, James River Distillery, Richmond
1762 Port, Philip Carter Winery, Hume
Gingerbread Stout, Hardywood Brewery, Richmond
Sport
Latell Sails, Deltaville
Tad Coffin Saddles, Ruckersville
Goodpasture Knives, Ashland