Throwback Thursday: Belts By Herb- A Time Honored Tradition Still Going Strong
Herb Gansheimer at the All American Quarter Horse Congress. Photo courtesy of Gordon Downey.
By: Brittany Bevis
For today’s Throwback Thursday, we decided to check in with some friends of ours from Middletown, Ohio, Herb and Ginny Gansheimer. The Gansheimers own and operate Belts By Herb, a family owned company that’s been creating handcrafted belts and buckles for the most discriminating horsemen since the 1970s.
Although you won’t see Herb or Ginny at the AQHA World Show or Quarter Horse Congress nowadays, their two person operation is still going strong.
“We don’t go to the trade shows anymore,” Herb says. “The last time we went to the World Show was in 2006, and the last time we were at the Congress was in 2008. We attended the first Congress they had, and we had a commercial exhibit across from AQHA for 34 years. We went to the Solid Gold Futurity the first year they had it. That has been quite a while ago.”
“It used to be at the Congress that we’d try to have 1,000 belts and 274 silver and gold buckle sets in stock. We still have a lot of inventory, and we have our old faithful customers that still call.”
Both Ginny and Herb are 72 years young and show no signs of retiring any time soon. Although the couple doesn’t attend trade shows anymore, they still make almost 1,000 belts a year.
What’s interesting is that, in this technological day and age, Belts By Herb keeps business buzzing purely by word of mouth and a stream of longtime customers. The company doesn’t have a website or a storefront, in the traditional sense.
“What it amounts to, is there was a moment in time that we couldn’t keep up with supply and demand,” he says. “We have two Mac computers, and we have the Internet, but we don’t have a website. We stay extremely busy.”
“We don’t have a shop that you walk into like a store. The place we’re sitting in right now has a fireplace on one side and it’s attached to the back of our home.”
Not only are Ginny and Herb small business owners that specialize in handcrafted items (they even have their own goldsmith) every piece is proudly made in America. However, that doesn’t mean their clientele is restricted to the great US of A. Herb confirms he has clients all over the globe.
“I’m very particular about the way I do things,” he says. “That’s just the way I am. I want it done in a way that I think is correct. I’m just too particular to have other people do it. I think we have created a reputation, and we have customers all over the world.”
“The backs of our belts are stamped and say [they are] handmade in the US. I take pride in that. So many belts are not even made out of leather and people don’t know it. It could be vinyl. You can go into a high-end retail store and see imitation alligator, but that’s something we can spot ten feet away. We only use genuine alligator. Everything we do is done by hand.”
It’s this dedication to quality and fine craftsmanship that makes a belt made by Herb such a sought after commodity.
“When we were going to trade shows, it was not uncommon for someone to name a trainer and say, ‘this trainer told me I should come buy a belt or order a buckle.’ A lot of it was by referral.”
“As you get older, you do slow down. I want to be making belts until the day I die. I’m the type of person that has to do something. This is something I enjoy, and it’s very gratifying.”
The Gansheimer children are successful in their own right, so Herb doesn’t see the kids following in his footsteps. On the other hand, he has no desire to sell the business once it comes time to retire.
“We’ve created a certain reputation, and I wouldn’t want [someone else] to turn out a poor product,” he says. “I’ll keep making belts as long as I’m physically able.”
Ultimately, it comes down to excellent customer care and those special handcrafted touches that have made Belts by Herb a standby in the horse industry for so many years.
“We send a thank you note with every shipment, and we have thank you notes that some customers have given us,” he says. “We’ve been given special family rum cake recipes and jackets people have sent us. It just gives you a good feeling. Some of the top Quarter Horse exhibitors, amateurs, and trainers have become our very good friends.”
To find out more about Belts by Herb, check out a 2001 Equine Chronicle article featuring the business.
If you have an idea for an upcoming Throwback Thursday article, send an e-mail to b.bevis@equinechronicle.com.
