Bud’s Tack Shop used to go to its customers; now they come to Bud’s from far and wide

A home-based business that’s off the beaten path sounds like a good way to get mired in obscurity. But when that business has a reputation based on seven decades of excellence, people will find it.

And it’s not just locals doing the finding. People around the nation and the world know about the saddle and leather repair that gets done at Bud’s Tack Shop. Bud Grant is no longer around, but his son Ray Grant is, and Ray learned the trade from the master and finds himself still doing it at age 70.

The location changed, though. Ray and his brothers inherited Bud’s home and tack shop at 1176 17 1/2 Road in Fruita, and they decided this year they will sell it. And while it’s on the market, Ray’s son, Bryce Grant, bought a place at 1516 M 3/8 Road near Loma, where he lives and a large shop now houses Bud’s Tack Shop as well as Bryce’s business: Bryce Grant Custom Leather.

The two businesses opened there on June 22. They now have double the space compared to the Fruita location.
“We’re still settling in and trying to find places for everything,” Ray said. “Even though it’s double the size, we sure filled it up in a hurry.”

Inside, Ray said, he does the same things that Bud’s Tack Shop has been doing since 1965. But the work stays there for the most part, as he no longer does the mobile work that put Bud’s Tack Shop in front of people and built a loyal clientele. Instead, they have to come to him. Or ship their items to him.

Ray said his father worked for 20 years at Grand Junction Canvas and Leather, but when the owner died, Bud decided not to buy the business. Rather, he struck out on his own with a mobile, saddle-making and repair business.

“He decided to go on the road and be mobile. His main business when he started was calling on ranchers and things like that,” Ray said. “He had a regular route. Like, you go to Collbran one day, Meeker the next, stuff like that, and call on the ranchers.”

And the business expanded to the point it had three trailers at one time, and Bud’s Tack Shop hit the rodeo circuit.

“We did all the major rodeos in the Western U.S.,” Ray said. “Our main thing got to be big team ropings. They got to be huge.”

Ray said Bryce ropes and goes to rodeos, but that’s not for Ray anymore.
“I’ve traveled enough,” he said.

His main focus of the business now is saddle repair and leather repair.

For an example, he pointed to a saddle and said, “This saddle here, it was all tore up, got in a big wreck. … We make all of it, completely rebuild it. I mean, this goes clear down to the base layer.”

Ray said restoration of old saddles is common, and he pointed to one he said is from the early 1900s.

“It’ll get the same treatment,” he said. “It’ll go down to almost nothing.”

Then, he pointed to a saddle from the 1940s that he finished restoring the day before.

He compared the saddles to hot rods that people buy and restore. There’s a similar mentality.

Another reason to restore saddles is purely economic.

“Part of what is fueling our business now is new saddles are so expensive,” Ray said. “A custom-made saddle will run you, starting price at $6,000 now. So, if you got a good saddle that’s working fine for you and stuff, people are much more willing to spend, say, a thousand dollars to refurbish it.”

During an interview at his new shop on June 30, Ray estimated he had 35 saddles there.

“All these saddles in here, they’re in here for repair,” he said. “We usually run three to four months behind, all the time. It’s always busy.”

If people are willing to wait, that means they believe the wait is worth it. They know and trust his work.

“That’s why we do a lot of family heirlooms and things like that,” he said. “They know that I like the old stuff, and I take my time and do it right, you know, ’cause I grew up with that.”

“My dad was the most particular guy that ever lived when it came to a piece of leather, and he tried to instill that in us.”
Ray added, “We have people ship us stuff from California, Denver, all over, to repair and stuff, especially saddles. They’ll send quite a few saddles from California and places that know us, and that was part of the travel. We knew everybody that roped or rodeoed or anything forever. And we got around a lot. I mean, we really did.”

And people remembered that.

“We’ve just been here for a long time and tried to do good work and treat people good,” Ray said. “I’ve got customers that my dad dealt with 70 years ago. You know, same families and things. So, I guess we’ve treated people OK over the years.”

More About Bud’s Tack Shop

If it goes on a horse, they can make it.

Saddle repair may be the bread and butter of the business for Bud’s Tack Shop these days, but owner Ray Grant said they do much more.

“We make bridles, chaps, anything that goes on a horse, any tack,” he said. “Horse tack is anything that goes on horse. We make any of it, custom-made any way they want it. And we do a lot of business with that.”

Between Ray and his son, Bryce Grant, “We can do about anything out of a piece of leather that can be done,” Ray said.
That led Ray to say more about Bryce, whose business, Bryce Grant Custom Leather, shares the workshop at 1516 M 3/8 Road near Loma. Leather is in the business name, but Bryce has branched into silversmithing, making custom buckles, engraving metal items and such.

It’s obvious in Ray’s voice that he’s a proud dad when he talks about Bryce, whose day job is director of the Center for Academic Support at Colorado Mesa University.

Ray said Bryce also is in the belt business and has a growing clientele.

“He’s on Etsy, and he ships them all over the world,” Ray said.

Makes sense, and cents, to go with good leather

Another reason the craftsmanship of the Grants stands out is they use high-quality leather.
“We’ve got three different suppliers down mainly in Kentucky,” Ray said. “There’s all kinds of quality of leather. You want to go for the best stuff. The best leather only costs maybe 20 percent more than the bad stuff. So, you go with the good stuff.”
Ray brought up the topic of belts again and lauded Bryce’s work, the tooling he does on belts, the flower stamping.
“Just feel the leather and the way the edges are finished and everything,” Ray said. “If you notice the stitching, there’s no missed stitches or anything like that. He takes a lot of pride in what he does.”

Of course, Bryce’s belts cost more than the average belt that’s sold in a department store. Ray pointed to some and said they sell for $70 apiece, and they will “last you for a long, long, long time.”

Versatility, commitment, artistic touch make Dad proud

Ray pointed to a pair of chaps that Bryce was preparing, and said whatever they need, “zippers or buckles or things like that,” Bryce takes care of it.

Then, he pointed to a knife that Bryce engraved free-hand.

“You have to have that artistic touch to do that stuff,” Ray said.

Bryce’s skill amazes Ray, because, “He works all day at the college and then comes home and works here. He puts in a lot of hours. … He’s growing his business, you know, he’s really getting stuff going, and that’s what you’ve got to do. You can’t sit on your butt and expect it to come to you.”

Known world-wide, even on the Isle of Man

But when you’ve done the work and established a standard of quality, business does start coming to you.
“He sends stuff to Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, quite a bit of stuff,” Ray said.

Even people from obscure places have gotten wind of Bryce’s work, as Ray said, “He sent a belt the other day to the Isle of Man. I had to look that one up, where that was. It’s between Ireland and Scotland. It’s an island out in the middle there.”