by Gene Fowler 

Former firefighter Spencer Tetrault knew that the leather radio baskets, leather helmet bands, leather chin straps and other items he made for fellow first responders at his Axe & Awl Leatherworks business in Waynesville, North Carolina, would need to be sturdy and durable enough for the rigors of the job. Spencer’s wife and business partner, Courtney Tetrault, a former paramedic, knew they had to be well-crafted and designed in order to deliver maximum efficiency in life-or-death emergencies. 

The one feature of their leather goods outpost they might not have anticipated in 2021, when they first welcomed customers and visitors to their brick-and-mortar location on Depot Street, just off Waynesville’s main drag, was the public’s response to the rich aroma of a leather shop. As you most likely know, if you’re reading this magazine, it’s a sensory experience that evokes associations with timeless traditions. For most folks, it wraps cozy arms around sweet memories. 

That out-of-time sensation extends to the rest of the Axe & Awl retail store and workshop as well. From the exposed brick walls of the early 20^th century building to the historical Waynesville images and artifacts on display, the environment conjures up that wrapped-in-grandma’s-quilt aura and mood. And for whiskey sippers, a wooden barrel of bourbon near the front door adds an olfactory grace note of abiding pleasure. (We’ll get back to that in a minute.) 

This past August, Waynesville residents broke ground on a project to reconstruct a historic arch across Main Street that proclaimed the town as the Gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains. It’s a geographic status that brings a lot of tourists to the picturesque community of about 10,000 people—and to Axe & Awl. Those visitors tap into the sensory experience of a leathercraft workshop, but for many locals who stop by the Tetraults’ business it sparks deeper associations. 

Those Haywood County folks have memories and stories from the days when the processing of hides was a major industry in the area. Hazelwood Tannery, Junaluska Leather Company, and the A. C. Lawrence Leather Company employed generations of local residents from the 1800s to 1986, when the town’s last tannery closed its doors. They were hard-working folks like James Gordon Smathers (1921 – 2016). Mr. Smathers spent 35 years working at A. C. Lawrence in a career that was interrupted by World War II, when he made six trips across the Atlantic to deliver ammunition to American forces. Ten days after his discharge, Mr. Smathers was back at his job at the Waynesville leather company. 

“About twice a month,” says Courtney Tetrault, “someone will come in whose great-grandfather worked at the tannery. They’ll give us tools or other artifacts they found in the basement. We’ve got a check ledger from one of the tanneries, work logs, diagrams—it’s a treasure trove of local history and leather history.” 

“You can’t underestimate the importance of the tanneries to this area,” adds Spencer. “Not only did they employ hundreds of local families, but they were also a driving force in bringing the railroad here.” 

Axe & Awl began making its own leather history around 2014 – 2015, when Spencer was working as a firefighter in Asheville. “Because of the way that firehouse shifts are structured, you have a lot of days off,” explains Spencer. “So, a lot of firefighters will have a second part-time job. My leathercraft work started out as a hobby that quickly morphed into a side business.” 

As he studied Al Stohlman books (“YouTube was not on my radar”) and experimented with making leather radio straps and suspenders, friends and fellow firefighters were soon asking if he could make different items of gear for them. “I wasn’t goal-oriented,” he adds. “I just wanted to learn all the facets of the craft that I could. I soon discovered that once I learned how to bevel, burnish, tool and cut straight lines, I was starting to have the ability to create some special projects.” 

Axe & Awl launched its website in 2015, and the business started out in the family’s basement. It grew so quickly that Courtney became the company’s first full-time employee in 2017. Spencer—wanting a career change that would leave more time for family with the Tetraults’ two young kids—soon followed and he devoted himself full time to leatherwork. That same year, the Tetraults took Axe & Awl products to firefighter conventions, such as the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) in Indianapolis, and the Firehouse Expo in Nashville. 

Today, Axe & Awl products are used by first responders all over the country and an entire room of their Waynesville shop is filled with the company’s dozens of different leather items that help these esteemed professionals serve the public more safely and efficiently. Additional offerings include belts, wallets, bags, key chains, padfolios, dog collars and leashes, and more. Image stamps available for leather creations range from college mascots to military insignias, the Ghost Busters icon, state flags with embedded axes, and a 9-11 memorial. The Tetraults have even collaborated with local potters to produce limited editions of Axe & Awl branded coffee mugs. 

In addition to negotiating the myriad nuts and bolts of running a small business, the last few years have been a crash-course in the mysteries of branding for the Tetraults. Part of that process has involved creative forms of community outreach. This past August, for instance, at one of its Bevel Bar Events, Axe & Awl held its first Awl in Tiki Night. “We acquired a license as private sellers to create our own speakeasy,” explains Courtney. “It’s somewhat along the lines of Starbucks coffee shops located in Target stores.” 

“Get ready to step into a world of retro allure and island enchantment,” wrote Axe & Awl employee Ashley in an event promo. “Embrace the charm of yesteryear with dapper Hawaiian shirts, ravishing floral dresses, and gracefully swaying grass skirts” while enjoying “an opulent selection of exquisite cocktails and refreshingly crafted mocktails….Let your imagination run free as you evoke the spirit of a time when glamour knew no bounds!” 

Leathercraft outreach, of course, remains the central component of Axe & Awl’s community-engagement branding efforts. Hands-on belt and wallet-making workshops have proven very popular as the pandemic has waned, almost as popular as the official shop cat Ivy. “She sits in the middle of the table and watches,” says Courtney. “Kids even ask their parents if they can go to the leather shop and see Ivy. She’s like a therapy cat. And she keeps my brother Travis in line, which is a real bonus.” (A former Marine, Travis is the shop leader at Axe & Awl, where his woodworking experience has come in quite handy.) 

If you’re in the North Carolina area one of these Octobers, look for Axe & Awl’s participation in the annual Apple Harvest Festival on Main Street. Extending down Depot, the event features live music and vendors. On December 9th of this year, more music and local makers of wonderful products headline Axe & Awl’s Holiday Night Market. Food trucks and the local tattooist doing flash art tattoos will be on hand to feed and ink up some 30,000 revelers. 

The Christmas season, of course, is Axe & Awl’s busiest. “We need about 12 to 14 weeks lead time for custom jobs,” says Spencer. “And because our customer base is, thankfully, continuing to grow, we really have to keep our heads down from about the second week of October to the second of January. We’re pulverized when the holidays are over, we really take a whoopin’. But we love it.” 

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On the Axe &  Awl website, axeandawlleatherworks.com, be sure to take a look at Ashley’s essay on the tanning process. It’s one of the most informative I’ve seen. Visit the workshop during open-to-the-public hours, Thursday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and watch the leathercraft process in person. 

Axe & Awl’s primary leather supplier is Jeff Ballard with Thoroughbred Leather, and then Wickett & Craig, Weaver, Hide House, and EC Leather. Hardware is primarily sourced from Weaver and Buckle Guy. For more bespoke hardware, Spencer deals directly with manufacturers.