PAMPA, Texas (KFDA) – Ruben travels up Highway 60 and meets up with a business doing big things in Pampa.
Cliff Powers, CEO of Mernickle Custom Holsters, says the company has been around since 1974.
“It was built off of a cowboy fast draw world, fast draw ideology, and then we’ve kind of morphed it into something much bigger,” said Powers.
Bob Mernickle started the company, and when he got into the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS), the company started to grow. Powers says they’ve taken it to a whole new level and it’s been fantastic.
Hayley Gething, junior executive, says they are a family-based company. Her parents own it and her other sister runs the research and development department.
“It’s just having all of that support from the town and them encouraging people to come here, involving us in events, that just, it means a lot,” said Gething. “I mean, our grand opening was a testament to how much them being here meant to us because this whole building was filled with people.”
Powers say they’ve split the company into two divisions; one is cowboy, and the other is concealed carry, which is anything outside of cowboy action.
“So we’re the premier holster company for SASS, which is the Single Action Shooting Society, Cowboy Fast Draw and Extreme Cowboy Fast Draw. We’re the largest producer of holsters for those events in the country,” said Powers.
For their concealed carry line, Powers says they have eight of the largest gun companies in the world that sell their holsters online.
Leigha Gibson, research and development, says most of the things she does involves making stamps, gun molds and other things the business uses to make the holders. Other than that, she says she does a lot of laser engraving that ends up on the holsters.
“People send in certain images and stuff like that that they want done, and then I can burn that, kind of customize your holster for you that way,” said Gibson.
Powers says the Pampa community is amazing. Being a very gun friendly town and a big hunting and fishing area in the Panhandle, Powers says the community supported the business even before they moved into town.
“But I think moving back to Texas — I’m a veteran, 25 years in the Army, so great veteran benefits in Texas, you can’t beat that, and that was a big factor too for moving back here,” said Powers.
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