Gus Kelley
Bexar Goods is a local group of craftsmen in the San Antonio area handcrafting various leather products including: wallets, backpacks, satchels, wrist watch straps and they’re just getting started. We met up with Falcon Rubio, founder of Bexar Goods and the Outland Provision Co Airstream Trailer on 2202 Broadway to talk about the increasingly popular business, the future of the company and their growing one-of-a-kind variety of products.
20SA: What’s the inspiration behind your company?
FR: I was an outdoor education teacher in Colorado working seasonal at a school. During the winter months it was shut down, so I had four months out of the year where I needed to do something and fill up my time. I started brainstorming on what I could do when I come back from Colorado to San Antonio, because this is where I’m originally from. In 2011 we started Bexar Goods providing adventure-wear and different apparel, leather products, bags, and wallets built to last. We started with the porter satchel and grew into wallets and smaller items that we have now.
20SA: How did you come about selling product out of an Airstream?
FR: We noticed that with having an online business it’s hard to have a core, so we wanted to figure out a way to make that happen. The solution was to open the Airstream trailer so we can get out and interact with people in our city because we named the company after the county here in San Antonio. It’s an 1968 Airstream, we renovated it over 12 months. We did it ourselves. We gutted the whole thing out and put the shelves in and designed everything.
20SA: What is the difference between Outland Provision Co. and Bexar Goods?
FR: Over 60% of the product is made by us (Bexar Goods) and the other are items we have curated. The trailer is named Outland Provision Co because Bexar Goods is the craftsmen group who creates some of the products and this way we’re not cornering ourselves where we only sell the Bexar Goods brand; this allows us to feature other items. We want to turn Outland into an apparel company. So we have both Bexar Goods and Outland branded items in the airstream.
20SA: What are some of your popular items?
FR: The field notes wallet, because it can be used a wallet and a booklet to keep your notes along with your pen and some cash and it’s just small enough to fit in the back of your pocket. Bag wise our porter satchel is popular because it can be used as a backpack or a satchel so you can switch it up.
20SA: What does the future hold?
FR: We have footwear in the works. It will all be Outland branded. We want to keep Bexar Goods as a small company where we make everything, but there are some things that are a little far reaching for us. We want to design other things like footwear and clothing and not limit ourselves to the leather material. Currently, we have some candles, beanies, Gladstone bags (old doctor bags) which are Outland branded items. At the moment, running the website is our storefront. Little by little we are growing online and it’s where our business is. The trailer is our side project that could turn into a retail store, but right now we are focused on the items and the offerings. Our next step is to grow the Outland brand.
20SA: What is a product you’ve added just recently?
FR: The Apple Watch strap. It’s both a piece of technology and it’s modern. We threw a spin on it with a classic look to such a modern piece. It’s one of our very popular items on our website and it’s also something newer that we haven’t had since the beginning. It gives the watch a different look than what you get from Apple. It’s a fusion of two worlds.
I headed outside to talk to Phillip Kimm, who was threading a small piece of leather over a small workstation.
20SA: What are you working on right now?
PK: This is an Apple Watch strap, I’m making it out of shell cordovan, which is our premium leather, this one is for the 42 mm size. We make them in both sizes.
20SA: How long does it typically take to finish one Apple Watch strap?
PK: Start to finish, about 30 minutes.
20SA: What are some other products that you work on?
PK: Most of the wallets that you see in there have been touched by me. [laughs] There’s a couple other people down at the shop: Dominic and Jacqueline. We all make a bunch of the products, but I primarily work on the smaller pocket stuff. Dom does a lot on the porters and Jacqueline knows how to use a sewing machine so she’ll help run the aprons, canvas bags and Hudson satchels.
After talking with Phillip, Gus and Falcon about various topics including: our favorite restaurants around town, history of our names, and 80’s films, we wanted to know if they ever thought about moving into a building.
20SA: Do you see yourself opening a storefront?
FR: At the moment, running the website is our storefront. Little by little we are growing online and it’s where our business is. The trailer is our side project that could turn into a retail store, but right now we are focused on the items and the offerings. Our next step is to grow the Outland brand. We want the mobile trailer to be our home base. Thursday – Saturday 10am-5pm. As we grow, so will the hours. When we started a month ago it was just us in the parking lot – solo (2202 Broadway). With the other businesses, it’s created an environment where everyone can rely on each other and make something out of this space.
20SA: Definitely, you have a wide variety here in the lot.
FR: Exactly, we got drinks, leather and food. [laughs]
Shop online at Bexar Goods or stop by the Outland Provision Co. Airstream at 2202 Broadway Thursday – Saturday 10am-5pm to purchase some beautifully hand crafted leather products along with other unique locally made clothes, beanies, hats, cuffs, wallets, candles and more!
