CALDWELL, Idaho — It's something you don't see everyday: leather smith working inside an old bank vault, inside a new coffee shop — call it a COVID-19 silver lining.
Heath Albers and his wife Krista left Oregon looking for a fresh start and they found it in Idaho when they started Bond and Bevel.
"We pulled into downtown Caldwell it was love at first site, last day of our trip he cried like a baby," Krista said.
But grinding coffee beans wasn't the only thing on Heath's mind. During the pandemic, the custom home builder decided to learn how to become a leather smith on YouTube.
"We actually got to know some of the people I was watching video, the leather crafting world is pretty small," Heath said. "The guys that have been doing it a lifetime, and better than me willing to share secrets, it's just a neat community."
Actually Heath is pretty modest because his satchels are about as hot as his cappuccinos.
"We were in six countries within a few months we were sending stuff out instead," he said.
So the question is, how do you balance between a latte and leather?
"If people leave you alone in here, I think I could do a bag in a day and a half, two days, but we're doing the coffee too, so I'm jumping out there doing coffee and coming in here when I can," he said.
Everything seems to be working out for Albers. They just had their most successful day after being open for just about six months, but that created one of those good problems to have.
"We ran out of milk, ran out of ice and ran out of steam."
But not leather. By the way they did get more milk.
