COMPANY SPOTLIGHT
As a young baker working in a sketchy part of Miami, Pepi Kusiak decided to carry concealed. But with unsatisfactory holster choices on the market, he used skills learned at his mother’s leather shop to craft his own, and the rest is history.
follows function meets minimalism’ QUALITY, VALUE BAKED ‘Form with Kusiak Leather’s IWB, OWB INTO THESE HOLSTERS concealed carry options. PHOTOS BY KUSIAK LEATHER
ost small businesses have a unique “how they got started” story, but Kusiak Leather’s might just take the cake – literally. While working for his grandfather’s Cuban bakery in Miami, Pepi Kusiak developed a recipe and the retail packaging for gourmet brownies that were sold at farmers markets and local food stores. Because he was working after hours in a “sketchy neighborhood,” Kusiak decided he needed protection, so he set about getting his concealed
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weapons permit and a firearm. “Now, we’ve all been here: You’ve chosen the gun you’re going to buy and at some point, you find yourself at the wall of holsters,” Kusiak describes. “That’s when I realized, none of those holsters were going to work for me because they ride too high, leather is too thick, poor quality or they were plastic.” He continues, “Because I have leather work experience, I knew I could do better. Originally, I made holsters for myself, and because friends and other people started asking for them,
I decided to open up shop. In order to know that I was on the right track, I called my brother who’s a sheriff in L.A., and I asked him to list off all the problems he’s had with inside-thewaistband holsters, thus resulting in Kusiak Leather Holsters.” As a teen, Kusiak worked for his mother’s custom leather shop in Burbank, California, and he brought these skills to his new holsters. After about a year of making them out of his apartment, he quit the bakery to focus on holsters full-time. The americanshootingjournal.com 123
