Alabama Maker brings leather, loyalty to downtown Opelika
Loyal Stricklin offers more than 100 products, including, pictured, a whiskey flask, wallets, pen-holders and keychains. (Anne Kristoff/Alabama NewsCenter)
The Maker: Michael Stricklin
Loyal Stricklin, Opelika
He may have attended graduate school at Auburn University, but some of the most important things Michael Stricklin has learned have come from outside the classroom.
Stricklin is the founder, owner and creative director of Loyal Stricklin, a lifestyle and leather goods company – named in honor of his paternal grandfather – that he runs with his wife, Sarah, in downtown Opelika.
“I grew up working in the garage with my dad, working on cars, building things,” he said. “I’ve always been hands-on. We had a wood shop and metal working tools.”
So when it came time to find a creative outlet while attending architecture school, it wasn’t too far a leap for the Homewood native to pick up leatherwork. It was an easy craft to produce in an apartment setting, needing relatively few supplies and tools. He began by making wallets and other things.
“I just taught myself everything. I didn’t even watch that many YouTube videos,” he said, laughing.
Soon thereafter, he happened upon his signature item, “The Aviator Mug.” From there, the business just took off.
Loyal Stricklin brings the leather to Opelika’s ‘cool downtown’ movement from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
While it seems that things have happened fairly quickly and relatively easily for Stricklin, he exudes a sense that it has all taken place very purposefully, organically, one stitch at a time.
The Loyal Stricklin line now comprises about 100 products – between designs and colors – from the aforementioned mugs to wallets, a whiskey flask set, coasters, small pouches, a variety of bags and other small goods. Everything is handcrafted in his shop in an old warehouse situated along the railroad tracks in Opelika. His retail store – which also serves as a curated showplace for his works and other items that he loves – is in a beautifully tailored space a few blocks away.
Staying in Opelika after graduation was another turn that seemed to happen instinctively for Michael and Sarah.
“Opelika was an easy place to start out,” he recalled. “The plan was to only stay for six months to a year after graduation. Two-and-a-half years later, eight years after I first got here for school, I’m still here.”
He cites the downtown’s cheap rent, influx of cool businesses (brewery, distillery, bike shop, start-up hub) and walkability as some of the reasons why.
“There’s a lot of great momentum in downtown Opelika. It’s becoming what downtowns used to be,” he said. “There’s something truly local and walkable about downtown Opelika.”
He and his wife opened their brick-and-mortar store to support and contribute to those efforts.
As for the future?
“I try not to plan too far into the future because you never know what’s gonna happen,” he said. “Right now I probably wear 50 different hats, which is just the life of a small business owner. I do marketing, wholesale, Instagram, production, design new stuff, customer service. We’re trying to create something much bigger than ourselves. The goal is always to keep expanding the business, but as it sits Opelika is our home.”
The Product: Leather goods including bags, wallets, pouches, mugs, notebook covers, coasters, key chains, a whiskey flask set and other small items.
Take Home: An Aviator Mug in the original plane design or honey-colored landscape design, $29.99.
Loyal Stricklin, 711 Ave. A, Opelika, AL 36801
