Will Leather Goods to open largest store in Midtown

William Adler, the founder of Will Leather Goods, plans to open his 8th — and largest — shop in Midtown on Wednesday, fusing his family's Detroit roots in retail with his passion for his new home out West.

"This is our department store of artistic creativity," he said Monday, giving a preview of the 8,000-square-foot shop. "We've brought Oregon to Detroit."

Based in Eugene, Ore. — where Adler lives now — the family-owned business sells leather bags, belts and accessories for men, women and even pets, at prices from $45 dollars to more than $1,200.

The store, at 4120 2nd Ave., is in the refurbished Tomboy supermarket building, in an area where local and national brands such as Shinola and Carhartt are opening stores to create a retail area with a cozier, more Main Street feel than what's emerging in downtown.

Adler, 64, kept the building's terrazzo floor, exposed its wooden rafters and let natural light stream through the windows, giving the shop a rustic, western feel; and just about everything that is for sale and on display, including fixtures made from reclaimed wood and Douglas fir trees from Oregon, have been selected to tell a story.

In many ways, Adler said, the new store, which is several times bigger than other shops — in Venice Beach, Calif., Portland and Eugene, Ore., San Francisco and New York — because the price per square foot is much less gives him enough room to do what he's really wanted to in all the other stores.

A cowhide covered tee-pee, a place to sit and feel the calm that the enclosed space creates, fills the center of the store.

In addition, it has a coffee area, photo gallery, a place where customers can personalize items — with their names and initials — with leather stamps, and a second-floor landing that overlooks the shop and where customers can purchase custom-made hats.

The store also, Adler added, is a tribute to his older brother, Robert, who as a long-time retailer urged him to open the Detroit store but died before he could see it happen.

"I feel like he's very much with me in all the efforts to make this happen," Adler said.

Adler's 27-year-old daughter, Shane Adler, moved to Detroit near the store to oversee and head up the opening.

"I've been here since day one," she said, adding that the lease was signed about the same time her uncle died.

William Adler, who attended James Vernor Elementary and Wayne State University, left Detroit to pursue his dream to become an actor. He earned a bachelor's degree from Goodman School of Drama in Chicago, acted off-Broadway in New York, and moved to Hollywood in the 1970s.

He had parts in movies and TV shows, but in the 1980s, during the Screen Actors Guild strike, he needed an income.

His brother, who owned Man Oh Man clothing stores in metro Detroit, hooked him up with selling belts; from that, he and his wife started making and selling leather goods.

Adler opened the first Will Leather Goods store in Venice, Calif., in 2012, and continued to grow and open others. Sales are about $40 million a year. The company employs about 200 people, and plans to have a staff of about 25 in the new Detroit store.

"We didn't open a little boutique," Adler said. "This is a labor of love."

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com

Will Leather Goods

Address: 4120 2nd Ave., Detroit

Website: https://www.willleathergoods.com

Size: 8,000 square feet

Items: belts, bags, wallets, home goods, hats

Social initiative: The store operates a Give Will campaign, in which it plans to donate 500,000 backpacks to schoolchildren nationwide in five years. The store plans to donate a bag to every student at Vernor Elementary, where Adler attended, and Cornerstone Schools.