Salz winding down

After over 140 years of making leather, Salz are shutting down. 'We've had a great history. But with the global changes in the leather business, we cannot continue to operate' said Geoff Eisenberg, CEO, in early August. 'Ironically, Salz is running better than ever before. Due to the outstanding talent and hard work of our people, the support of our suppliers, and the business we do with our great customers, Salz has progressed an incredible amount during 2001. 'But the future is not bright for a small tannery in California. We face significant competition from Asian tanneries who have enormous cost advantages that cannot be overcome, no matter how much our productivity improves. It simply costs us too much more to produce leather here in Santa Cruz compared to our competition. 'We will wind down our operations over the next two to three months. As we finish off our production, we have no intention of reducing our quality or customer service standards. We will honour all current orders and agreements. Salz is financially healthy and has no intention of shunning any of its obligations. Though we will soon go out of the leather business, we will continue to take pride in what we do, and I assure you we will do the best job possible so that your opinion of Salz remains positive long after our doors have closed.' After finishing normal production they will sell their assets in preparation for redevelopment on of the property.