Sullivan Glove Co. in Bend started in San Francisco in 1941.

There are only a handful — if you will — of leather glove manufacturers in the U.S. One that has successfully pivoted during the pandemic to include an international market is here in Bend.

The Sullivan Glove Company, which manufactures handmade, custom, work and recreational gloves, has been around for 80 years, with 75 of those years in Bend.

Ed Sullivan started the company in the San Francisco Bay area in 1941, supplying leather gloves to the naval ship yards, before moving to Bend in 1947.

The business has had only four owners; the most recent is Jake Peterson, who purchased the business from his wife’s aunt and uncle in 2019, right before the COVID-19 shutdowns hit.

“There were probably two reasons why Sullivan left the Bay Area for Bend,” said Peterson, 37. The ability to buy deer and elk hides is more prevalent in Central Oregon, but there was also a strong Scandinavian presence here. Several Scandinavian women were already employed sewing the gloves, so it made sense the move the business here.

For Peterson, who attended Oregon State University and met his wife, Tracie, there, it made sense to the couple to buy the business, in part, thanks to its uniqueness.

“I was working in construction sales, and selling windows for Anderson windows and we were looking to invest in either real estate or something else,” Peterson said.

Glove manufacturing is “a good old boy” industry, Anderson said. “Not much has changed in the last 60 years. But Sullivan Glove did not have a web presence. We were basically selling other, high-end, brand-name gloves, but this company has a cool back story. So, we decided to change from a little cut-and-sew shop for other brands to our out brand.”

Now three years into it, more than half of the company’s sales are its own gloves. Anderson was into the business for about four months when COVID-19 hit.

“Basically, our buyers stopped placing orders. Everybody was scared, everyone was preserving inventory and cash. No purchase orders were coming in.”

Fortunately, he had just launched the website, www.sullivanglove.com

“But I had no email list, I had just started an Instagram account. So, I decided to just join forums such as motorcycle and adventure sites and promote the gloves there.”

Little by little, people caught on and the business was back on track. The business was growing organically, but Peterson was working behind the scenes on social platforms to get his product in front of buyers.

“I never had to lay off any of the seven employees, we starting having good cash flow.”

The business didn’t have to shut down during COVID, but just had a minor case in early January that forced a week-long closure.

He also hired a local marketing firm that put some “gas on the fire” to reach customers, he said.

“Locals did not know we were in their own backyard. We don’t have a showroom (at the plant off Glenwood Drive adjacent to Bend High School) but people do come in to buy gloves.”

Their best-selling glove is their “deer skin-lined roper.” But they do decorative gauntlet gloves with long wrist coverings, and gloves for work, cowboys and skiers.

They can hand-stich logos onto gloves for gifts and have done so for Central Oregon Builders Association and Hayden Homes.

Now the company finds itself shipping product to Japan, Finland, Scandinavia, Germany and China.

Most big brands of gloves are made in Pakistan, China or Indonesia.

“My approach to carry on the company legacy is to how help people experiment with new styles. People want to support made-in-America products and want the higher quality leather and stitching,” Anderson said.