How an inconvenient shotgun shell bag inspired a Mercer University student’s business

After using canvas cartridge bags for years, Luke Kolbie was tired of their awkward design and their inability to withstand being dragged through briars and bushes on hunts.

He decided to make his own out of leather with the idea that it would have a better structure, be more comfortable and last longer. He still has the first one he made in his office at Mercer University’s Innovation Center.

“I made the first shooting bag, and I started wearing it at dove hunts,” Kolbie said. “I had no idea of this being a business. I was just doing it for fun.”

Kolbie said it wasn’t long before people started asking him to make cartridge bags for them, which began his business called Kingfisher Leatherworks.

The company moved from Dublin to Macon when Kolbie decided to attend Mercer. He works out of Mercer’s Innovation Center as one of their companies-in-residence.

He said he started out hand-stitching each product, but he decided to buy a saddle stitching machine with the money he saved to buy his first car.

Kingfisher Leatherworks’ products debuted in a store for the first time in 2016 at Smith’s in Dublin, Ga., he said.

Natalie Curry, the owner of Smith’s, said she appreciated Kolbie’s dedication to producing products in the United States and the quality of his work.

“I’m really excited that we were the first company to carry his line, and our customers have just loved, loved shopping his collection since we introduced it,” Curry said. “Everyone in town has a belt.”

Kolbie said he planned to go to Mercer in the fall of 2017, but he was also trying to get a manufacturer for Kingfisher Leatherworks and preparing for the Southeastern Wildlife Expedition (SEWE) in Charleston. He had to choose between making sure his business was successful or going to Mercer.

He chose to take a gap year, and Mercer held his scholarships so that he could start the following fall.

Kingfisher Leatherworks won Booth of the Year at the SEWE, competing with booths from W. C. Russell Moccasin Co., Brackish Bowties and Hook & Gaff Watch Co.

“We had all of these different companies that I have just like looked up to for all my life,” Kolbie said. “I felt really, really inadequate.”

Now, Kolbie is a freshman at Mercer and running a full-time business.

“When I first stepped onto Mercer’s campus, I was like, ‘Yeah, this looks like home,’” Kolbie said. “Mercer’s kind of afforded me a lot of different opportunities, and I’m really grateful for the opportunity to be here and doing business at the same time.”

Kingfisher Leatherworks’ products are in seven retail stores across the southeast including Smith’s in Dublin, Burge Plantation in Mansfield, Miller Brothers in Buckhead and Broken Arrow Outfitters in Perry.

Kolbie said the name for the company comes from the belted kingfisher, a predatory bird with red, white and blue feathers. He said he used to see the birds on creeks and rivers when he would go hunting, and they were so precise and regal when catching their prey.

“They live in a rugged environment, and they are a sporting animal, but at the same time, they maintain this kind ... of a regal nature,” he said. “We describe our products as having rugged regality.”

Kolbie said he wants his products to be items that families can pass down for generations.

“You grow up seeing your dad carrying one of our bags,” Kolbie said. “One day you get that bag, and you carry it, and that legacy kind of lives on.”