S01E01 Kristi’s Story: He Built It. She Couldn’t Let It Go.
I've walked past Tundra Leather on King Street more times than I can count. I knew the name. I knew the shop. What I didn't know was the story behind it — and when Kristi told it to me, I understood immediately why this is exactly the kind of conversation The Loew Down exists to have.
Kristi Grove grew up inside this shop. Her dad, Peter, found leatherwork as a kid and spent decades building Tundra into a Hamilton institution — a working leather shop on King Street East where you could commission a custom belt, learn to stitch your own bag, or just walk in and talk craft for twenty minutes with someone who genuinely loved what they were doing. Kristi was always around, always watching. But she built her own career at McMaster. Peter told her to. And then in 2014 he got sick, and in 2015 he passed away, and Kristi walked into the shop and didn't leave.
What we get into in this conversation is the real version of that story. The decision that wasn't really a single decision. The notebook she still opens every month — his handwriting, his formula, his notes from the
hospital. Learning leatherwork secondhand through Sean, who learned it from Peter. The economic reality of keeping a brick-and-mortar craft shop alive in downtown Hamilton in 2026. The workshops that sell out in days. And what it's like to be a woman running a trade where someone occasionally still walks in and asks if the man is available.
What we get into in this conversation is the real version of that story. The decision that wasn't really a single decision. The notebook she still opens every month — his handwriting, his formula, his notes from the hospital. Learning leatherwork secondhand through Sean, who learned it from Peter. The economic reality of keeping a brick-and-mortar craft shop alive in downtown Hamilton in 2026. The workshops that sell out in days. And what it's like to be a woman running a trade where someone occasionally still walks in and asks if the man is available.
When I asked Kristi what she wants to be remembered for in her community, she didn't say she wanted to be remembered as the woman who saved her dad's shop. She said she wants people to know that Tundra isn't a place that gatekeeps leather. That anyone can come in and ask a question and leave knowing more than when they arrived. She learned that from Peter too.
Find Kristi at @tundraleather on Instagram, online at tundraleather.ca, or in person at 313 King St E — open Tuesday through Friday 9 to 5:30 and Saturday 9 to 5.
Because your story matters. 🎙️