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Marshall Schoening is always his own first customer. As the craftsman behind Station & Co., a handmade leather goods company that recently launched in Nashville, he can be seen carrying and wearing several of his productsbelts, wallets, key snaps, and bagsin order to learn as much as he can about the functionality of their design.
To say Schoening is thorough is an understatement: He's researching constantly. The Indiana-born artisan embraces trial and error (and a lot of wasted leather) to produce the technical details that bring sophistication to otherwise simple objects.
'Going from conception of an idea all the way to finish is very rewarding,” Schoening says. 'And making pieces that people are going to have for their lifetime makes it worth it. These bags only get more beautiful with age.”
Schoening developed his business philosophy early on by observing his grandfather as a child. 'My grandpa lived in Texas and always owned just a few items, but they were durable,” he explains. 'That lifestyle, valuing quality over [number of] things, really appealed to me.”
The concept for Station & Co. was born several years ago, during Schoening's college years. He and his business partner, Skylar Lawson, saw a need for affordable, custom saddle-stitched bags and aimed to fill that void. The saddle-stitch method, which involves punching holes by hand and stitching two separate threads for extra durability, is not widely used because it can't be done with a sewing machine, which often drives up prices.
Schoening can spend upward of 10 hours making a single bagbut he wouldn't have it any other way.
'I want customers to know that whatever they ordered or purchased was made specifically for them and wasn't just sitting on a shelf,” he says. 'There's something special about that.”
After years of perfecting his goods, he now looks forward to Station & Co.'s growth. 'Nashville is definitely a creative town,” he says. 'There's been a growing appreciation for artisan crafted things. As consumers, we're stepping out of the disposable mind-set, and people are starting to seek more quality over quantityand that opens up the way for artisans and craftsman who can actually make a living doing it.”
While Schoening does not have a brick-and-mortar store, the Station & Co.'s website features 11 items that can be customized down to the thread and range in price from $45 to $595. Schoening, who thrives on the creative challenges of crafting a new product, also invites individual requests.