FUTURE OF PETER LIMMER AND SONS IS UNKNOWN BUT IT MAY LIE IN THE HANDS OF A FORMER BANKER.
♪ >> WE GET IN HERE EARLY IN THE MORNING.
LIKE I SAID, MY WIFE GETS MAD AT ME BECAUSE I CAN’T WAIT TO GET IN HERE.
SEAN: IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR PETER LIMMER, HE’S A PRETTY EASY GUY TO TRACK DOWN.
HE’S BEEN POUNDING NAILS AND SHAPING LEATHER IN THE SAME HORSE BARN TURNED BOOT SHOP IN INTERVALE NEW HAMPSHIRE FOR OVER -- INTERVALE, NEW HAMPSHIRE FOR OVER 40 YEARS.
>> I AM STILL USING SOME OF THE TOOLS MY GRANDFATHER BROUGHT OVER.
SEAN: PETER IS A FIFTH GENERATION BOOT MAKER AND A CELEBRITY AMONG HIKERS, COLLECTORS, TRAVELERS, AND LOCALS.
>> IT’S BEEN PRETTY INCREDIBLE.
I WAS NEVER PUSHED INTO THE BUSINESS, SUBLIMINALLY I THINK I WAS.
BUT IT WAS A GOOD CHOICE.
I HAVE A LOT OF FRIENDS WHO ARE RETIRED.
THEY’RE WEALTHY BUT I DON’T THINK THEY ARE AS HAPPY AS I AM AND THAT IS WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO ME.
SEAN: PETER LIMMER SENIOR BEGAN MAKING SHOES IN BAVARIA 100 YEARS AGO.
HE MOVED TO THE UNITED STATES AND WAS ISSUED A PATENT IN 1939 FOR THE FIRST SKI BOOT.
LIMMER NO LONGER MAKES SKI BOOTS BUT THEIR HIKING BOOTS CAN BE FOUND AROUND THE WORLD ON THE HIGHEST PEAKS AND MOST CHALLENGING TRAILS.
♪ >> I AM SOMEWHAT ENVIOUS.
MY HIKING IS DONE ON MY FACEBOOK PAGE THESE DAYS.
BUT IT IS GREAT.
I GET INVITES TO STAY ALL ACROSS THE UNITED STATES, BUT I THINK IT’S BECAUSE THEY KNOW I DON’T TAKE VACATIONS.
SEAN: PETER HAS BEEN TALKING ABOUT RETIREMENT FOR A WHILE NOW.
>> YOU HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE.
I’VE GOT PEOPLE WHO AT THE DROP OF THE DIME SAY THEY’VE GOT TO GET ON THE BACKLOG IF THERE IS NOT ANOTHER GENERATION COMING UP , WHICH MEANS MY RETIREMENT WILL COME EVEN LATER AND LATER THAN I
ANTICIPATED.
SEAN: HE HAS TWO SONS HE’S CLOSE WITH BUT WHO AREN’T INTERESTED IN CARRYING ON THE FAMILY BUSINESS, AND WITH AN 18 MONTH WAIT LIST, AN EXIT STRATEGY ISN’T SOMETHING THAT PETER HAS
BEEN ABLE TO COME UP WITH.
IF I QUIT TODAY, I WOULD BE OUT OF HERE ANY YEAR AND A HALF.
YOU CAN’T TELL ANYBODY BECAUSE THEN EVERYONE WANTS THE LAST PAIR OF BOOTS.
THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT CLOSING THE DOOR IS ALL ABOUT.
SEAN: THAT IS, UNTIL RECENTLY.
>> I AM PLANNING ON WEARING OUT MY SOLES ON SOMETHING OTHER THAN THIS WOOD FLOOR.
IT HAS BEEN GREAT.
ADAM HAS BEEN WITH US FOR FIVE YEARS NOW.
HE WAS A WOODWORKER, HIS EYE FOR DETAIL HAS BEEN GREAT.
SEAN: ADAM LANE-OLSEN HAS BEEN ON A FIVE-YEAR CRASH COURSE IN ALL THINGS LIMMER BOOTS, BUT HIS PATH TO THIS INTERVALE WORKSHOP IS A WINDING ONE.
>> HE WAS MY BANK MANAGER, AND THAT’S HOW I MET HIM.
WE JUST GOT A RELATIONSHIP GOING.
IT TURNED OUT TO BE ONE OF THE BEST THINGS THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED.
>> KIND OF HIT IT OFF RIGHT AWAY, AND THE MORE I TALK WITH HIM, I DID SOME RESEARCH ON WHAT WAS HE DID, AND THE MORE FASCINATED I BECAME WITH NOT ONLY THE BOOTS MADE HERE BUT THE
CULTURE AROUND IT AND THE PEOPLE WE GET TO DEAL WITH.
SEAN: IT WAS A BUSINESS TRIP TO THE LIMMER WORKSHOP THAT LEFT ADAM DAYDREAMING ABOUT GOING FROM BANKER TO BOOT MAKER.
>> I WALKED OUT OF THAT MEETING GOING, INTERESTING, THIS IS A FASCINATING PLACE AND IT WOULD BE A SHAME IF IT WASN’T GOING TO CARRY ON.
EVERY INNER SOUL -- INTERSOLE LIKE THIS GETS HAND TRIMMED.
SEAN: PETE THOUGHT ADAM WOULD BE WORTH A SHOT, A GOOD FIT, AND THEY’VE BEEN WORKING SIDE BY SIDE EVER SINCE.
>> RIGHT NOW I AM STARTING THE PROCESS, PUTTING AN INNER SOLE ONTO A FOOT MODEL.
AND THIS IS REALLY WHERE THE BOOT BEGINS.
♪ >> IT WAS REALLY CHALLENGING AT FIRST TO GET THE LAY OF THE LAND WITH THE TOOLS AND MATERIALS.
THEY ARE SO UNIQUE.
IT WAS DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT TOOK ME A WHILE TO GET MY HEAD AROUND, AND ESPECIALLY BEING LEFT-HANDED.
IN THE SHOE INDUSTRY MOST THINGS ARE MADE FOR RIGHT-HANDED FOLKS.
THIS IS A FIVE AND ONE THAT DOES THREE THINGS.
IF YOU FIGURE OUT WHAT THE 4TH AND 5TH ARE LET US KNOW.
SEAN: LIMMERS COME IN ONE STYLE, ONE COLOR, WITH ONE SEAM, BECAUSE WHY MESS WITH GREATNESS?
BUT IT’S THE CUSTOM PART OF THE BUSINESS THAT HAS PEOPLE FLYING IN FROM AROUND THE WORLD TO HAVE PETE SKETCH THEIR FEET ON A PIECE OF PAPER.
>> THE SEAM IN THE BOOT, WE ARE A ONE-PIECE UPPER, WHICH IS ONE OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE WAY TO MAKE A BOOT WHICH IS ONE OF THE REASONS WE HAVE NEVER BEEN COPIED.
LAST WEEK ALONE WE HAD A GUY FLY IN FROM IRELAND AND TEXAS THE -- TEXAS.
THE FARTHEST I KNOW THAT HAS LOAN AND WAS TASMANIA.
SEAN: ADAM HAS BEEN WORKING ON THE PRODUCTION RUN OF LIMMERS, AND HAS JUST RECENTLY GRADUATED TO TRYING HIS HAND AT THE CUSTOM END OF THINGS.
SO FAR HE HAS MADE HIMSELF THREE PAIRS OF LIMMERS.
IT IS PART OF HIS NEW UNIFORM AFTER ALL.
>> I WANT TO SEE THE BOOTS CONTINUE.
THERE’S NO OTHER WAY ABOUT IT.
>> ONE OF THE ADVANTAGES OF HAVING A YEAR AND HALF LEAD TIME . WE DON’T NEED REPEAT CUSTOMERS . WE JUST TREAT THEM LIKE THAT,
PART OF THE FAMILY.
SEAN: PETER ISN’T SURE WHAT THE FUTURE WILL LOOK LIKE OR WHEN HE’LL LACE UP HIS LIMMERS AND HEAD TO THE SHOP FOR THE LAST TIME.
>> I MADE A NEW PAIR BECAUSE MY LAST ONES AT 25 YEARS OLD, I THOUGHT THEY WOULD LAST LONG ENOUGH TO RETIRE IN, BUT I HAD TO MAKE A NEW PAIR FOR FIVE MONTHS AGO.
SEAN: BUT WHEN YOU ASK HIM WHAT HE WANTS TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THE BOOTS HE AND HIS FAMILY HAVE POURED HEART, SOUL, AND LIFETIMES INTO, HIS ANSWER IS SIMPLE.
>> HOW GRATEFUL I HAVE BEEN TO HAVE THAT CLIENTELE FOR 46 YEARS.
SIMPLE AS THAT YOU’D -- AS THAT.
THE PEOPLE.
PEOPLE ARE WICKED NICE.
♪