When Bryan Hargett decided to start his own leather manufacturing company in southern La Plata County, he had no idea his niche would be in the pet industry.
He thought he might make belts or bracelets. It was only after he made a collar for his own dog that he realized there might be demand for classy leads and leather collars. A little market research backed up his theory.
“Every pet store we went to wanted collars,” he said.
In 2012, he started Ruff Puppies, selling collars and leads wholesale. Later, he began thinking about opening a retail side through a website.
“The Internet opens the whole world to our projects; we ship all over the world,” he said.
Without the Internet, Hargett, who runs the business with his wife, Jess, likely would be a wholesale company exclusively, he said.
It also keeps Hargett in the shop working with leather, as he has for 25 years. Launching Ruff Puppies allowed him to flee his desk job at a manufacturing company that shipped its production out of the country.
Now, the Ruff Puppies’ production record is 500 collars in a month, and Hargett believes he probably could make more.
”We have a super-efficient shop,” he said.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
