A case for longevity

In 1972, Michael Korchmar was a 22-year-old recent college graduate when he began his trek to become the third-generation president of his family’s leather goods manufacturing company. Now, just more than a year after marking the Naples-based company’s 100th anniversary, his son, Mike, is preparing to take over as owner and president.

Founded in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1917 as The Leather Specialty Co., Korchmar is one of only a handful of manufacturers of high-end leather, wax canvas and ballistic fabric baggage and accessories in the U.S., creating all of its 50-some Korchmar-branded and hundreds of other private-label products, all hand-made in Naples and in the Dominican Republic.