Juxtaposition Vendor Now Manufactures Personal Protective Equipment

As families and businesses react to the COVID-19 pandemic, one of Juxtaposition’s vendors, American Leather, a quality furniture maker based in Texas, is adapting and finding a new — albeit temporary — purpose. 

The county of Dallas, Texas, where American Leather is based, issued a mandatory shelter-in-place order that went into effect the last week of March. Assuming they would be designated as a “non-essential” business, their management team saw a unique opportunity: help healthcare workers.

Bruce Birnbach CEO of American Leather knew the order would disrupt their supply chain to their clients, so he was very upfront about the situation. 

In a letter to customers, Birnbach said his company had been working with the federal government and local hospitals to offer American Leather’s manufacturing services to produce face masks and gowns. 

“With our outstanding sewing and production capabilities, we recognize that this can be a huge help for the needs of our healthcare workers and infected citizens in the community who need this so desperately,” said Birnbach. “This manufacturing effort in a portion of our plant means that our Dallas manufacturing operation will be considered as an essential facility and we can continue to operate, as of now. As you already know, we have been proactive in preparing for this situation and have already taken aggressive measures to keep our employees at safe distances or in some cases, working at home. These actions will continue.”

He continued: “We are proud of our State for doing their important part in helping to slow the spread of this awful virus and we are proud that we can do our small part in aiding people on the front lines with safety gear.”

Suzanne Ferguson, co-owner of Juxtaposition, said she chose American Leather as one of its premier vendors because of the quality of their products.

“Their products are made in America,” said Ferguson. “Their customer service is fantastic, and now you can see how they operate in a crisis. They found a way to help with this pandemic. This is just another reason why we are so glad to partner with them.  Our normal supply chain is obviously interrupted, but we know once the mandates lift they will be back to making extraordinary furniture and getting orders out to customers as soon as possible.”

David Workman, American Leather’s VP of Sales, said he’s very proud of their team.

“Although we’ve not been able to make furniture, we are very proud of our team of volunteers that have come into work to produce protective face masks and gowns for people on the front lines,” said Workman. “These heroic people of ours are now creating over 10,000 masks a day for delivery to local hospitals as well as the federal government requests, and we plan to continue these efforts indefinitely.”

The company plans to resume furniture production on May 4, when shelter-in-place orders are likely to be lifted.

Juxtaposition, located in downtown Camas, is an American Leather retailer, many of their products can be viewed at www.artfuljuxtaposition.com