‘Only gets better with age’: Ivins couple opens unique leather shop

IVINS — Owned by a husband and wife duo who create handmade heirlooms that stand the test of time, a unique leatherworking business has opened.

Lucy and Todd Duke, owners of Lazy 3 Leather Company, stand at one of their booths, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Lucy and Todd Duke, St. George News
Lucy and Todd Duke, owners of Lazy 3 Leather Company, stand at one of their booths, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Lucy and Todd Duke, St. George News

What began as a simple interest to learn a new trade soon turned into a full-time business for Ivins couple Todd and Lucy Duke, owners of Lazy 3 Leather Company. 

Todd Duke said the idea for the leather business was first sparked by a wallet he had purchased at a big-box store. As the owner of a trucking company in Colorado, he said wallets would often poke holes in his jean pockets while sitting for long periods of time. As he went through multiple wallets, he had a decision to make: continue to buy more wallets or attempt to make his own. 

Prior to the creation of his first wallet, Duke said the only leatherworking experience he had was in high school when he made monkey balls and sold them to fellow students for $5. Determined to learn every aspect of leatherwork, he scoured the internet for instructional videos and spent his time watching others perform their leather craft on YouTube. 

The first item Duke created from a YouTube tutorial was made with deerskin leather he purchased at a yard sale. Unsure of how the process worked, Duke said he first used his wife’s household sewing machine, a machine he quickly learned was not made for leatherwork. Because of this, the couple decided to use the last of the money from their trucking company to purchase a special sewing machine to continue their craft and start their business.

A gun holster and belt created by Lazy 3 Leather Company is on display, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Todd and Lucy Duke, St. George News
A gun holster and belt created by Lazy 3 Leather Company is on display, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Todd and Lucy Duke, St. George News

“It’s amazing what you can find on the internet,” Duke said. “For the most part, I learned everything on YouTube, just watching people and how they did it, then developing our own way from there and getting creative.”

In December 2019, Duke said he and his wife moved from a small farming community in Colorado to the desert landscape of Southern Utah. Drawn to the area, they quickly learned about the large art community and dived right in.

“The makers’ community here is, I would say, second to none in the country,” Todd Duke said while showing an order of 5,000 strops they are currently working on.

After the move to Utah, Lucy Duke, formally a newborn photographer who sold handmade crocheted props through Etsy, decided it was time to go all-in on the leather business with her husband.

As she utilized her previous Etsy skills to place their handmade leather wallets online, she said they were shocked to sell 40 wallets that very first Christmas. Duke now does both the graphic design side of Lazy 3 Leather Company as well as the creation of leather products alongside her husband.

Shortly after their move, the couple started to sell their items at the St. George Downtown Farmers Market, then moved their items into the accompanying MoFACo artisan co-op, where their work can be seen today. Lazy 3 Leather Company can also be found at Red Canyon Company in Hurricane.

While they still have an online Etsy shop that reaches people from all over the world, Duke said the majority of their business comes from the St. George area. 

With batch orders now in the thousands, Duke said they are left with buckets full of scrap leather. To avoid waste, they use this leather to create smaller items such as 3D animal keychains, earrings and even their own Lazy 3 Leather Company business cards. 

The best advice Duke said she can give to other artisans is to band together as a community. She has loved learning from others and lifting each other up.

“Find someone who specializes in the same trade,” Duke said. “They will help you grow and learn. There is no competition when everyone has the same goals.”

The couple agreed that they are in the business of doing much more than creating products for their customers; the custom leather items also hold a special sentimental value to those that receive them. 

 “When I create a product I want it to be something they use daily that only gets better with age,” Todd Duke said. “Something they can pass on to their children when they pass on.”

As far as future goals for the company, Duke said there are currently no local facilities to purchase full-grain leather or hydes in Southern Utah, which they hope to change. With the closest location in either Las Vegas or Salt Lake, the next big goal on the horizon is to become the first leather supplier in Washington County.

Lazy 3 Leather Co offers a variety of custom items including purses, wallets, bags, keychains, belts, gun holsters, knife sheaths, mouse pads and even shoes.

For a one-of-a-kind unique finish, they also offer custom stamping and laser engraving. For more information on Lazy Leather Company, visit their website or find them on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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