Dear Arrow Team,
I just wanted to tell you how pleased I was with the job you did on my leather Remy Lite jacket.   I have had that jacket for 10 plus years.  It was absolutely my favorite jacket.  And it was a mess.  It needed a new liner, pockets, cuff replacement, etc.   I was ready to throw it out.   I actually went and bought a new Remy to replace my old one.  In the course of the transaction  I became aware of your company by one of the sales staff.

On a lark I called your staff figuring maybe you can make it wearable and I can use it while I paint the house or something (LOL).  I am so glad to have found you.   My jacket came back looking fantastic. It was an amazing transformation.   Bob, thank you for calling me and telling me about  some of the things I had missed that needed attention and then getting them fixed.  I am so appreciative.
My  experience with your company, Arrow Fabricare,  was  great.  My expectations we exceeded.  Many thanks to all involved.  I am  a fan and will be sending more  things in the near future. I am also telling all my friends.

You know I can count on one hand the number of letters like this I have written in my life.  It is not a very common occurrence for me.  So if there was ever a case where a “well done” was deserved this was it.  I am so happy!!!!

Best,
Peter C.,  New York, New York Posted by Another point of view!

(Blogger's Note: - We love getting nice letters and emails from satisfied customers...but especially from such noted fashion industry titans as PellePelle™. Pelle Pelle is a high-end fashion brand created by Marc Buchanan in 1978. It's commitment to quality and artistic approach to fashion has been embraced for decades by musicians and celebrities worldwide. Premium materials and fine craftsmanship has become a standard for Pelle Pelle's collections, including Marc Buchanan's famous leather jackets, denim, sportswear, and outerwear.) You can find out more about PellePelle here: http://www.pellepelle.com/home

SPLASH DOWN!! When you hit the mud, you can count on Arrow to save the garment. Here are photos of the "After ATV Mishap" and the "After Arrow" versions.

Amazing, huh??!! This isn't an unusual case at Arrow. We get all the hard jobs no one else in the US will tackle. If you have a special challenge or just a routine cleaning, send your leather to Arrow.

Arrow receives many complimentary letters, emails and phone calls...Following are some of the most recent ones. We're proud of our work and cherish the reputation we have earned over the years.

This rough and tumble Robert Comstock Wild Austrian Chamois jacket was damaged by a substance that created a chemical burn. It was a write-off until the owner was directed to Arrow. Arrow took charge and was able to acquire a new replacement skin that we finished to a perfect match. The customer was delighted with the results.

Wild Austrian Chamois is a unique leather that designer Robert Comstock uses for this limited edition ultra-fashionable rugged jacket. Comstock, an Idahoan (Sun Valley), specializes in some of the most unique suedes and leather for outerwear that is both durable and comfortable to wear in any conditions.

Arrow always loves a difficult (or impossible) challenge and most often meets and exceeds customer expectations. Here's what the owner said in an email note to us:

(Three generation of Gershons: Joseph Gershon (top) ran the business from 1914 to the 1950s, when his son Bob Gershon (left) from took over. Grandson, Bruce Gershon (right) assumed the job in 1988.)

Bruce Gershon's grandfather, Joseph, started Gershon Tailor Shop in Kansas City, Mo., in 1914. Through nearly 100 years and three generations of ownership and a gradual shift in focus to more wholesale and specialty cleaning work, the family business - then known as Arrow Cleaners & Dyers, Inc .- has prided itself on quality.

Joseph Gershon's middle son, Mel, worked in the business on-and-off when not pursuing his first callings, chemical, and mechanical engineering and inventing. Mel's tinkering produced a patent on the first foam rubber press pad, as well as other innovations that were adopted without fanfare by major manufacturers, according to family legend. After serving in World War II, Joseph's youngest son, Bob Gershon, joined the business, and became an early Kirk's Suede-Life licensee in the mid-1950s, when Arrow began to hone its leather-cleaning skills. After his father died in an automobile accident in 1963, Bob became sole owner.
Arrow's business was largely retail and focused on high-end dry cleaning until Bob's son, Bruce Gershon joined the business in the early 1970s. "I started doing more with the wholesale arena," Bruce Gershon says. "I started with servicing local cleaners, and then leather manufacturers and soliciting them to recommend Arrow. We wanted to let them know that there was someone who could clean leather."
At one point, a manufacturer sent Arrow several black-and-yellow lambskin jackets as a test. "They thought they would send us something impossible," Gershon says. After sending them back without any color bleed, "he started putting our label in them" - as did many stylish brands of the era, including Ralph Edwards Sportswear, In Transit, and Begedor Italia. "Our growth was accelerating, and part of it was national growth," he says. "We were right in the middle of the country, which was good for servicing mail order. Once manufacturers understood what we had to offer, they would recommend us to stores, and they, in turn, would recommend us to their customers."
Another big breakthrough happened in 1993 after Bruce Gershon had visited the New York office of Ralph Lauren. The all-American clothing company was looking to capitalize on a growing trend for vintage apparel, and one of the people in the meeting later called Gershon. "He said, 'This is going to sound crazy, but I want to come and work with you for a couple of weeks,'" Gershon recalls. “‘We’re going to make a vintage clothing line, and I want to replicate these leathers and make them look old.'"
Antiquing leather garments turned into a year-long project, with Arrow inventing techniques on-the-spot. "They turned out incredible," Gershon says. 'We found a rock that's indigenous to Missouri, and took old laundry tumblers and filled them with these rocks to tumble the leathers. Then we had to have new baskets made, because the rocks were too heavy for the tumblers. Necessity was the mother of invention."
Arrow ultimately produced 12 styles of vintage leather garments and more than 20,000 individual items. The company moved on to jeans, inventing additional processes to produce more than 450,000 pairs of stone-washed and antiqued jeans. "The year after we ended our project, manufacturing went to China and they tried to replicate the things we were doing," Gershon says. "They could never figure some things out, including our patented denim antiquing, but a patent means nothing over there."
Arrow still operates its retail business and routes out of its main 26,000-sq.-ft. plant, and also performs fire restoration, reweaving, and luxury French laundry service. The company recently bought out a drapery cleaner, getting all of its equipment and added a new facility with 22,000 more square feet of space. But its commitment to a range of quality cleaning services and customers large and small has never been stronger.

Coming soon to www.ehow.com... In this picture owner, Bruce Gershon, preps for his video shoot with ehow.com. Bruce will be featured in a series of Leather and Fabric care "how to" videos on ehow.com beginning in April of 2012.

Bruce was contacted by ehow.com through one of their producers who had used Arrow's services before. Her husband was going to throw away one of his old leather coats, and she did not want to get rid of it. She did a Google search on leather restoration, and came to the conclusion that Arrow was the best place to send this special coat. She shipped the coat to Arrow through our special online shipping program, and when they received the coat back they were more than thrilled with the results.

Being recognized as one of the premiere leather cleaners in the country ehow.com asked Bruce to do a Leather and Fabric Care “how to” video series. 17 helpful videos were filmed and will be posted on ehow.com starting in April.

Arrow owner, Bruce Gershon, was invited to Denver last weekend to address Dependable Cleaners Customer Service Representatives during their annual all-company meeting. Arrow Leathercare was one of five vendors selected to speak at this event, and of course the topic was skin identification, cleaning, and repairing of leather and suede. Dependable Cleaners put on a very entertaining and educational event, and in reviewing the evaluation forms employees filled out, the majority came away with more knowledge about leathers than any of the other four categories!