Drive just one hour east of Los Angeles, and you’ll find yourself entering a region in Southern California known as the Inland Empire. It’s here, in the sunny town of Corona, California that you’ll find our family-owned factory that’s been handcrafting belts for over 50 years.
How It All Started
Back in 1968, Jack Shirinian, a master beltsmith, started his own belt factory after deciding that the belt factory where he worked just wasn’t doing things the way he thought they should be done. Jack had uncompromising standards of quality for both himself and those around him and dreamt of one day starting his own belt factory built on the simple American principles of using only the highest quality materials backed up by exceptional craftsmanship.
The Factory Today
Today, John Shirinian runs the factory that his grandfather started over 50 years ago. As a young boy, John spent his summers soaking up all the knowledge he could in his family’s belt factory and by the age of 12 could make a belt from scratch himself.
“I remember during summers in elementary school, I would always pass the other boys on the sidewalk as we were going opposite directions. They were walking to the bus to catch a ride to the beach. I was walking to the bus to catch a ride to the factory.”
A Dedicated Team
Most of the employees at our factory have been with us for over 20 years. Jerry Powell, one of our master beltsmiths, just celebrated his 45th year with us, and his wife Leticia, also a beltsmith has been with us for over 30 years. We take pride in the culture we’ve created at our factory and are proud to call our staff our family.
