D. Longfellow Wood sells mostly to customers in the U.S., but he'd like to boost sales in Canada
The Last Best West, an online retailer based in Calgary, designs and makes handmade cowboy and Western hats, leather holsters, rifle sheaths, chaps and other cowboy leather. It was launched as a website in 2000 by sole owner D. Longfellow Wood, 57, originally as a vehicle to promote his adventure book The Last Best West, written under the nom de plume Longfellow Deeds.Chris Bolin/The Globe and Mail
A few of Last Best West’s hats. The company ships all over the world, but most of Mr. Wood’s customers are in the United States. The website attracts about four million visitors annually.Chris Bolin/The Globe and Mail
Here is a classic fedora in grey, from Last Best West. Among the company’s customers are the Smithsonian museums as well as the entertainment industry, including Fox Entertainment Group, for the character Jedediah the Cowboy in Night at the Museum 3, cable channel AMC for Hell on Wheels and the TV series Fargo, which is shot in Calgary. Hats range from $350 to more than $900.Chris Bolin/The Globe and Mail
A few of Last Best West’s leather accessories.
Because most of its sales are to U.S. customers, the company does its manufacturing there, and ships from there as well. It has no bricks-and-mortar location. Shown here is the Decker hat, in Legends of the Fall brown.Chris Bolin/The Globe and Mail
Mr. Wood would like to have more customers in Canada. He plans to find a Canadian manufacturer, which would keep prices reasonable for Canadian customers, given the rise in value of the U.S. dollar. He would also like to open a flagship store for Canadian-made goods, ideally in a small Alberta town close to a tourist destination. Shown here is the Tom Horn hat in camouflage.Chris Bolin/The Globe and Mail
But Mr. Wood wonders whether opening a shop is a good idea, given that Amazon has just eclipsed Wal-Mart as the biggest retailer in the world without having one single store.
Shown here is a Texas flat crown in charcoal.Chris Bolin/The Globe and Mail
“It’s a very difficult decision to make,” says Mr. Wood, who has a background in retail management. “Is there any margin in it? Is it feasible to have a bricks-and-mortar location in today’s world?” Should he open a retail store in Canada or focus on increasing sales online only?Chris Bolin/The Globe and Mail