A leather-goods company that has spent about a decade renting space inside one of Fall River's old textile mills now owns the whole building. Frank Clegg Leatherworks, a family-owned manufacturer with roots in the city, has purchased the historic Tower Mill property, where it has long operated out of a fifth-floor workshop.
The purchase marks a shift in standing for a business that started small and grew inside the very walls it now controls. According to WJAR, the company plans to preserve the mill's manufacturing legacy while keeping the property home to its existing tenants and creating room for future growth. Tower Mill spans roughly 200,000 square feet and currently houses more than 20 businesses, the station reports.
Frank Clegg Leatherworks has occupied the Tower Mill building for about a decade, operating from the fifth floor on Quarry Street, according to a report from Viva Fall River. That earlier account also described Frank Clegg running the operation with the help of his sons, Andrew and Ian, alongside a full-time staff of 15 employees.
A Family Business Built From a Basement
The company's roots go back decades before it ever moved into the mill. Andrew Clegg said the business started in his father Frank Clegg's parents' basement, and Frank Clegg has said he simply did what came naturally to him all this time, according to WJAR's reporting. The company's own website states it has been setting the standard for American-made leather goods since 1970, producing totes, duffles, briefcases and accessories handcrafted in its Massachusetts workshop, per Frank Clegg Leatherworks.
Andrew Clegg said the building should continue to be used for manufacturing, and that the family now feels more comfortable investing in the property now that it owns it outright, the station's report notes. Ian Clegg said the family plans to grow, support the city and create new jobs as a result of the purchase. Frank Clegg said his sons are ready to take on the business, which he plans to eventually pass on to them, and said the family feels fortunate to continue it.
One of the Last Mills Still Making Things
Tower Mill, formerly known as Barnard Mill, was reportedly home to more than 80,000 spindles in its earlier industrial life, per the same WJAR account. WJAR describes the building as having been built in the late 1800s, though a lower-confidence account from Lost New England places completion of the main five-story mill building, with its tower, at 1875.
Fall River and New Bedford were once at the heart of the industrial revolution in America, a legacy that has largely faded as manufacturing declined across the region, according to Permanent Style. That same account notes that Frank Clegg Leatherworks is one of the few operations left in Fall River's old mills that still actually makes things inside them.
The city's manufacturing base has drawn renewed attention elsewhere too. The Washington Post has reported that expert artisans inside a 19th-century Fall River textile mill stitch together thick leather motorcycle jackets worn by celebrities and racing stars, while a separate Fall River factory has highly skilled needleworkers applying a gold-threaded crest onto a 600-count Egyptian cotton sham destined for a social club in India.
For now, the Clegg family's focus is closer to home. With ownership of Tower Mill secured, the plan laid out by Andrew, Ian and Frank Clegg centers on keeping the building's remaining tenants in place while opening the door to new businesses and new jobs in Fall River.
