The Unofficial Shopify Podcast How Portland Leather Hit $500M + Top 50 on Shopify
Aug 5, 2025
Curtis Matsko, founder of Portland Leather Goods and owner of North America's largest leather factory, shares his unconventional path to becoming a top Shopify store. He reveals his company's impressive growth trajectory and the importance of controlling every aspect of production to achieve high customer loyalty. Curtis shares insights on the impact of inventory on advertising costs, explores the emotional complexities of entrepreneurship, and discusses strategies to navigate economic challenges while building a loyal customer base.
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Meta Ads Misread Inventory Levels
- Meta's ad algorithm doesn't detect inventory stockouts and misinterprets depletion as ad fatigue.
- This causes them to reduce and charge more for ads, which harms stores running out of key SKUs.
Cult Following at Store Opening
- At the grand opening of their Seattle store, customers lined up around three blocks, waiting up to five hours to enter.
- This illustrates the strong cult following and fan loyalty Portland Leather Goods has built.
Vertical Integration Enables Agility
- Having control over production logistics enables rapid restocking tailored to fresh data.
- This is preferable to relying on old data and long lead times from overseas manufacturers.
