My dad has been wearing the same belt since 1978. I saw it on him two months before Christmas and thought to myself - it's time. Well, finding a good belt is HARD. I looked in all of the usual places, searched the internet, bought a few - hated them, sent them back... and then called The Leather Exchange in hopes that they could help.
The girl who answered the phone didn't have much information for me. I asked very specific questions regarding the types of belts they carried, if the size I was looking for was readily available, their hours of operation and if there was parking nearby - as I had never been there and wanted to be prepared. Yikes. She told me I'd have to 'just find parking', advised me that the size I was looking for was 'pretty standard so they might have it' and she couldn't give me much detail as to the types of belts they carried. Well, after searching for so long, I figured this place was as good as any to try and find what I needed, so we trekked into Portland a few days before Christmas.
There was an entire parking garage directly behind the business along with street parking alongside the street, and their shop was filled with gorgeous leather goods - I even spotted my Hobo bag and wallet! We found the selection of belts near the back and got to work searching for what we needed. A quality brown leather belt sized 36 or 38 with snaps with which to swap out the buckle. What we found was a variety of size 26-30 and 42-48 belts, some were really ornate. We were there for a while trying to figure out the best option, and we asked the woman behind the counter for some assistance. She was super laid-back in the 'I just took 2 Valium so nothing in the world could pull me out of the zone I'm in' type of way. We asked her how frequently the stock is replenished, and although she was able to tell us a shipment was expected the following day, she wasn't able to tell us what was in the shipment.
We ended up leaving empty handed. I'm sure If you're just there to wander around you might stumble upon something, but as far as assistance, guidance or help - this place failed us over the phone, in person, and in a future purchase. Sad to say we won't be back. read more