About Us

Wolfgang travelled by freighter to Halifax and then continued by train through Winnipeg and Regina during the winter. He arrived with very little money and could not speak English. He believed he had a job waiting at a tannery in Saskatchewan, but when he arrived, the tannery had not yet been built.

On his way back to Germany, Wolfgang was determined to see a Canadian tannery in operation. He travelled to Dominion Tanners in Winnipeg, where his experience and training made an immediate impression. He was hired as superintendent of the company’s new tannery in Edmonton.

Wolfgang then sent for his family, including his infant son Michael, who had been born in Berlin.

By the 1980s, Michael was eager to enter the family trade. Wolfgang insisted that his son first complete his education and spend at least ten years working in another industry before they went into business together.

Michael attended business college with his sights still firmly set on becoming a leather distributor. He spent two years working for Canada Packers, followed by eight years with R. Angus Caterpillar in Edmonton.

In 1985, Wolfgang retired from the tannery and returned to Europe. Michael remained determined to build the business they had discussed and eventually convinced his father to return to Canada. In 1986, they founded Buckskin Leather Company with warehouses in Calgary and Edmonton.

Michael and Wolfgang were business partners for 18 years before Wolfgang retired for the second time. Wolfgang passed away in 2018, leaving behind a lasting family legacy and a lifetime of tannery knowledge.

Michael has operated Buckskin as sole owner since 2005 and now works alongside his daughter, Nikole Schluessel. Forty years after the company was founded, Buckskin remains a family business serving customers from its Calgary and Edmonton locations and shipping leather across Canada.