Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Erich Bockman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Erich, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Adam, Asher and I started Fontenelle Supply Co. over a decade ago in a basement workshop in Omaha Nebraska. We all consider ourselves serial hobbyists, always looking for something new to learn. Every Tuesday night we would meet up in Asher’s basement and tinker with whatever new project that we were fascinated with at that moment. Somewhere along the line, we decided to teach ourselves leatherwork. After a few youtube deep dives, we discovered that with the proper materials and techniques, a leather wallet could last for decades. That’s where the obsession with quality began.

Over the next few years we were able to design a line of leather goods including wallets, belts, bags, ect. that we would wholesale to local shops or sell to customers on our own website. At that point we were still treating this as a hobby that basically just paid for itself and was a fun way to spend the weekend.

In 2012 Adam took a promotion for work and moved to Des Moines. Fontenelle took a bit of a hiatus for a few months while we all tried to figure out how it would fit into our lives. In the fall of 2013, we all planned a two week long road/camping trip through the western United States. It was on that trip that we decided that we would go all in with Fontenelle. We all wanted to work together again, and build careers for ourselves and each other. As simple as that. Ultimately, we didn’t know if this idea would work, but we knew that we would regret it forever if we didn’t try.

I moved to Des Moines shortly after that trip and in 2016, after years of planning, we opened our first brick and mortar shop in Des Moines’ historic East Village. Along with our handmade leather goods, we are also a full menswear retail shop. Boots, jackets, denim, and more. Our goal is to supply the city of Des Moines with the highest quality clothing and accessories with a focus on sustainability. We are also very involved with the community and the other businesses in the neighborhood.

We chose Des Moines because it’s kind of the Midwest’s best kept secret. The population was exploding and there really wasn’t anything like what we were doing here at the time. Opening a store isn’t easy by any metric, but we were overwhelmed by the instant support of the community. That unwavering support continues to this day. We were extremely fortunate that we were able to build a loyal customer base that carried us through the pandemic. We will forever be grateful for them.

In early 2022 we opened a second location in the Little Bohemia neighborhood in Omaha. Asher runs the Omaha shop and has seen the same support from his community that we’ve seen in Des Moines.

Both stores are thriving and we are as busy as ever. We’ve even started a custom branch of the business where we focus on client work. We offer everything from branded leather keychains to custom screen printed tee shirts, product photography and graphic design.

Like I said at the beginning, serial hobbyists.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

We are primarily focused on quality. If someone spends their money with us, we want to make sure that the item they purchase lasts for a long time, if not forever.

The leather products that we make come with a lifetime guarantee, we’ll fix or replace any item if there is an issue.

All three of us have always been interested in menswear. Quality boots, waxed canvas jackets, and raw denim specifically. Products like that actually get better with age and use rather than just wearing out. We always knew that we wanted to sell products from our favorite brands when we opened the first store. Filson, Taylor Stitch, Redwing, and Schott just to name a few.

We take a lot of pride in the fact that, around here, the Fontenelle name is synonymous with quality. Our customers know that the products that we sell won’t let them down.

That being said, we know that there is always something new to learn and ways to be a better yourself.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When the pandemic hit in 2020, our business was heavily impacted. Retail was dead for over 9 months.

During that time, we pivoted from a focus on retail to a focus on custom work. We designed and screen printed a benefit tee shirt for the neighborhood that raised over $13,000 for our struggling neighbors. With the success of that project, we were able to build a client list that continues to grow to this day.

Those were very dark days, but we don’t have a plan B. We just had to ride it out and do whatever we could to stay in business. Thankfully we managed to hold on.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Asher, Adam and I all met in Omaha where we were working at a grocery store. At the time, we were mostly interested in playing music and skateboarding. Luckily, we’ve matured a bit since then. We really just hit it off right off of the bat.

We’ve certainly had conflicts over the years but at the end of the day, we are essentially the brothers that we never had.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fontenellesupplyco.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fontenellesupplyco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fontenellesupplyco/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@fontenellesupplyco

Image Credits
All photos by The F2 Co.