I got this Filson bag about 35 years ago…

[Cheese]

I don't own a Filson product but they remind me of Gokey leather goods. Gokey was a family owned manufacturer in St. Paul Minnesota. They had retail stores in both St. Paul & Minneapolis. Walking into a Gokey store was a real treat back in the 60's and 70's as the smell of natural leather was overwhelming.

Boots, moccasins, fishing creels, wallets, knife sheaths, handgun rugs & gun cases, if it could be made from leather Gokey offered it for sale.  I purchased a leather duffle bag back in the 70's and still use it...no cracks in the leather and the brass zippers still work 50 years later.  [big grin]  Three years ago I purchased a pair of handmade moccasins and plan on sending them in to be re-soled. The sole is made with 2 layers of leather so that they can be properly serviced.

Sadly they were purchased by either Orvis or Boyt Harness and then moved to Missouri, however the products are still made in the USA.
https://gokeyusa.com/#home

 

[Packard]

For many years I was a steady customer of Duluth Trading company.  I would buy 7 of their golf-style shirts every two years and 7 of their long sleeve versions also. 

I would wear the shirts and launder them approximately 25 times a year and they would be in good shape for two years.  After that, I used them for another 2 years for “shop shirts”. 

I was a fairly early adopter of Duluth, and I appreciated their generous fit and substantial fabrics. 

A few years back, they were bought out by a conglomerate.  They made a particularly devious reduction in quality.

When Fruit of the Loom bought out Champion clothes, you knew right away that the quality was reduced.  The fit was skimpy and the fabrics were much lighter in weight.

Duluth decided that a shirt should not last two years.  One year was long enough.  So they left the fabric the same.  The fit the same.  The buttons the same.  What they changed was the threads.  After one year, the seams were opening up.  Sleeves and cuffs were coming off.  Under the arm the seams were letting loose. 

I wrote to Duluth and they said they would look into the problem.  The following year all the shirts failed after one year also. 

So their production costs are the same, and the product looks the same.  But it falls apart so they sell twice as many shirts. 

From what I have read, they probably stopped buying mercerized thread.  Non-mercerized thread is hard to find.  It is weaker, less durable, and does not accept dyes as well. It might cost the same or more than the mercerized version.  But it sells twice as many shirts.  So a good deal.

From my observation, large corporate takeovers of quality producers is rarely a benefit to the consumer. 

 

[Sparktrician]

I have a bunch of long-tail t-shirts from Duluth Trading, bought many years ago.  They were made in Vietnam and fit perfectly.  So last year, I bought a few more that were made in Honduras.  The sizes are right, but the fabric wasn't processed right and the shirts refuse to lay flat to be folded when pulled out of the dryer.  We are NOT amused, and are seriously looking for a different supplier.