THE QUARTERBOARD
Last week I asked whose name should go up next, and one came back more than any other. Here it is.
On the board this week: Leather Works Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota 🇺🇸
Leather Works Minnesota started in 1999, in a garage just outside St. Paul, with one idea: build leather goods the American-made way and make them last a lifetime. Husband and wife Kent and Lee Begnaud still own and run the shop, now with their son Nathan and a small crew. Every wallet, belt, and key fob is cut, sewn, and burnished by hand, and inspected at each step.
What sets the shop apart is that it tells you where the leather comes from. Most "Made in USA" leather goods stay quiet about the hide. Leather Works names its tanneries right on its About page: S.B. Foot (1872), Tennessee Tanning Company (1946), and Weaver Leather (1973). S.B. Foot sits in Red Wing, Minnesota, so a good deal of this leather is tanned a couple hours down the road from where it gets sewn.
The one to know them for is the No. 9 Wallet, $105. The name is the pocket count: six card slots, two hidden pockets, and a billfold, the most capacity in the line and their best seller. It is the wallet for the person who keeps a card for everything, and it is built to outlast a decade of back pockets. If that is more wallet than you need, the line starts around $55.
Buy first: No. 9 Wallet, $105 → leatherworksminnesota.com
This week's picks: made for deep summer
🇺🇸 806 SurfStretch Boardshort by Birdwell Beach Britches, Santa Ana, CA ($125). Boardshorts made in the USA since 1961, backed by a lifetime guarantee. A 6-inch inseam, a side pocket that fits a phone, and a cut that has outlasted every trend since the Kennedy administration. The water uniform. → birdwell.com
🇺🇸 Aviator Sunglasses by Randolph Engineering, Randolph, MA (from $265). Built to military spec and handcrafted in Massachusetts since 1973, the same aviators issued to US pilots. The frame is solderable, so a good pair is one you actually get repaired instead of replaced. → randolphusa.com
🇺🇸 Ascent Low-Rise Socks by Zkano, Fort Payne, AL ($21). Organic cotton, knit at a woman-owned mill in the old Sock Capital of the World. A no-show cut for boat shoes and sneakers in July. → zkano.com
🇺🇸 High Falls Short-Day Pack by Frost River, Duluth, MN ($145). Heavyweight waxed canvas, handcrafted in Duluth and guaranteed for life. A grab-and-go daypack for a trailhead or a ferry, naturally water resistant and built to get better with weather. → frostriver.com
🇺🇸 Adjustable Anchor Wrap by Mystic Knotwork, Mystic, CT ($23). Hand-tied nautical cord from a Connecticut knot shop, worn as a bracelet, anklet, or necklace. The small coastal thing that costs less than lunch. → mysticknotwork.com
Where the deals went
The Sale Wire lives in Friday's issue. Last Friday's Shop was a full seconds-and-outlet run: Frank's one-off pairs from Spokane, a handsewn Easymoc at 40% off, Faribault's warehouse, and Gitman's summer sale. Catch it → The Shop: The Seconds Rack
Worth knowing
Read a leather label for the tannery, not just the country. "Made in USA" on a wallet tells you where it was stitched, rarely where the leather was tanned. Leather Works Minnesota is the exception: it lists S.B. Foot (1872), Tennessee Tanning (1946), and Weaver Leather (1973) right on its About page. When a leather brand names its tannery, take it as a good sign. When it says nothing at all, ask.
A St. Paul wallet and a Red Wing boot can share a hide. S.B. Foot, one of the tanneries Leather Works uses, has tanned leather on the banks of Trout Brook in Red Wing, Minnesota since 1872, and is owned today by Red Wing Shoe Company. So the leather in a Minnesota wallet and the leather in a pair of Red Wing boots can come off the same Minnesota tannery floor.
Every item above was verified for country of origin this week, July 21, 2026. No brand paid to appear. Some links may become affiliate links; that never changes what gets picked.
P.S. You put this maker on the board. Keep it going: reply with the American-made thing you reach for every single day, and why. The best answer becomes a pick.
Until next time,
quarterboard.co · @quarterboardco