Tannereye

History

In the early 1970s, Peter Leunes got the idea to cover eyeglass frames with leather. Turning that concept into a real product took a few years. The method involved dipping the plastic frame into an acetone solution, which made the surface sticky enough for a permanent leather bond. Tannereye Ralph Lauren's Polo was one of the first stores to sell these frames.

For a long stretch, Bausch & Lomb was the company's biggest customer, using the process on Ray-Ban frames. Over 22 years, more than five million pairs of leather-wrapped glasses were made. Later on, the business also started putting leather appliques on clothing, screens, and sculptures. The steady work from Bausch & Lomb made Tannereye a key employer in Charlottetown throughout the 1980s, but relying on just one product made long-term stability tough.

To branch out, Peter Leunes, Frank Hale, and Carl Drew created and sold new items, mostly decorative accessories. The Leunes family eventually sold their share to a group of employees. Those workers pushed the new products further and ran the company successfully for several years, especially with leather-covered sculptures. After the owner died in the early 1990s, the business shut down.