La Regional Puerto Vallarta, Leather Cowboys Items

HISTORY:

Our company was born in the fifties, when the young Salvador Meza Segura, concluded his learning and practical period of the Occupation of Saddle Maker. This was in the Workshop of Mr. Rafael Alcaraz Ortega, Saddler Artisan, in the Cabos Ranch, Municipality of Talpa, Jalisco. Throught the mounts, it was 10 hours from Salvador's house.

This way in the year of 1957, La Regional Talabartería  born in a very small workshop founded by the Master Salvador Meza, joined to an assistant-apprentice of this handmade occupation, settling from then on in the village of El Pitillal, Municipality of Puerto Vallarta Jalisco, where it had different locations, and where until today it is in the 288 Independence Street, in the same place: El Pitillal Jalisco. This place has been his family house since, but he began to work upstairs, he made a rustic roof with cardboard sheets and four woods to hold them. As it was a new house but not finished, it wasn´t have a stairs to go up, so him, his friends, his workers and clients should climb by a guava tree wich was on the side of the house. After a couple years, he order to build a couple large walls and changed of roof with cement tiles, more resitant and fresh, this tiles was made by hand in those years at El Pitillal by local artisans.

10 years later, has been build more walls and roof, but it still being a rustic workshop, in the close future new changes are coming for our little workshop.

During the existence and development of La Regional, we have specialized in manufacturing handmade articles of leather for Horses, Cowboys, Charros, Furniture, etc., always using the materials of the highest quality in the market, being distinguished as well because  the quality of the hand work and our detailed finishes, which has earned us an important recognition among the regional, national and foreign clientele, who always looks for high quality products.

Today, we are a small family company that produces and commercializes a great variety of cowboy articles of high quality, as much in the local and national market, as to foreigners, mainly in USA and Canada, now much more from Spain, Germany and France, some of Swedden and of course, from many places in México. Today more than ever we are trying to grow, to be diversified and to raise its standards of quality, as well as to modernize our production, administration and commercialization systems; also looking for a bigger penetration in the domestic and foreigner market, this, without losing the quality, tradition and prestige that the effort, the time and our clientele have granted us.

You are wellcome if you are interested to adquire our products for re-sale, we can give you better prices on order from more than 6 units by article, please contact us for any comment.

MISSION:

To Revalue and to Strengthen the Quality, Art and Tradition of the Mexican Saddler Art, considering the past, innovating the present and projecting our products and handmade labor to the future, expanding horizons and markets with leadership, creativity and innovation, since the full satisfaction of our clients, is our best inspiration.

WHAT MEANS TALABARTERIA?

The saddler art is the art of working the fur and the leathers, to embroider it by hand and to give it the shape of products for human use. This arrived in Mexico coming from the Old World, Spain, after the Spaniards began to colonize the New World, and this way, it went expanding in our territory in several states like the State of Mexico, Puebla, Michoacán, Veracruz, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Queretaro, Jalisco, San Luis Potosí, Nuevo León, Coahuila, and others.

Our prehispanic people used also the leather to make small personal items of deer skin, specially for they own decoration and some holsters, bags and weapons. Saddlery or Talabartería is called: ehuapitzcalli in Náhuatl dialect.

However, each state produces certain representative crafts of the region, as well as characteristic that distinguish them of the other ones, as much in the material, labor and primary necessities, as in the decoration and finishes. We keep a tradition of 2 generations, a very exclusive design who no body else makes in México actually. We are proud to belong to this tradition of many years.

SALVADOR MEZA SEGURA, AN ANCIENT LEATHER CRAFTMAN.

He is the founder of La Regional Talabartería, when he arrived to El Pitillal (L PTL pronounce), he doesn´t have shoes, he always walked barefoot or with leather sandals, made by his self, so in Puerto Vallarta he needed to use shoes, has he doesn´t have money in the first days, we found a pairs in the garbage, he repaired and became in a new pair. He never found problems to make new ideas or repair all the items he received in his workshop, also articles wich wasn´t of his work, as weapons, shoes, knifes, harness, sandals and much more, his hability to fix anything was very recognized, specially because the fixed items lasted more time than as new.

He was a happy man, good natured, friendly and very kindly, something usual in his family, the Meza Segura generation. He lived his childness in the mounts, running all the time, every day also for playing or herding the cows, goats, chickens, pigs and other animals, still he grows and went to learn his occupation when was only 19 years old.

He was a great father and better teacher, but specially a great friend and a extraordinay leather craftman. He loved his job and his workshop as no one, even the last days of his life.

He left a law in our workshop and many phrases wich became in our main rules:

"...If this is not very well made, it´s better don´t do it...",

" i don´t make:...there is...what ever...not so good...,let's make things wich give a service for long time so our client come back and follow speaking of cool things".

"..the friendship is what matter in this life, when we stay here, ¿why when you are not here anymore?"

He has two sons, married with the a young teacher who came from Mexico city, by mistake to Puerto Vallarta. He loved his wife, proffesor Rebeca Bautista Vega, a great woman and teacher who always help him all his life and stayed on his side to the last breath.

Now she and his son, Roman Meza, are the support of his dream: keep this art  along the years, generation after generation, a tradition of quality and prestige.