Small Business Spotlight: Repairs, convenience keep Devon Luggage up to date

Back when Richard Means was working for his father-in-law at Devon Luggage, he swore there was one repair he would never make.

“I said, ‘I’m not messing with zippers,’ ” Means recalls. “I ate those words. I’m pretty good at it. I can put a zipper on anything.”

Wheels, handles, hinges and straps, too.

Means, who bought Devon Luggage in 1974, said making repairs is one thing that makes the Delano store unique.

“It’s an important part,” he said. “For one thing, it draws people into the store.”

Once there, visitors can’t help but linger to admire the array of handsome leather briefcases and portfolios, plus the latest in suitcases, suit bags, duffel bags, backpacks and accessories. Means said there are luggage connoisseurs in Wichita who appreciate the stuff the way others do shoes and clothes.

“I have people I see all the time,” Means said.

Devon Luggage was started in 1962 by Means’ father-in-law, Robert Fullinwider, making it one of the neighborhood’s older businesses. Means worked there off and on during college, then bought the business after a brief foray into other work in St. Louis.

For 40 years, the shop had an agreement to repair luggage damaged at Mid-Continent Airport, precursor of Wichita’s Eisenhower National Airport. Even then, repair work was secondary to sales. These days, airlines are less likely to accept responsibility for repairs, Means said.

Means has seen other changes in the business as well. When he started, there were no wheels on luggage.

“If you wanted to wheel your luggage, you put it on a luggage cart,” Means said. “They were horrible. They fell over every time you turned around.”

Wheels came along in 1976, followed by telescoping handles a decade later. Today the big demand is for wheels that spin and turn in any direction – that, and the necessity for complying with airlines’ smaller size requirements for luggage.

More than half the luggage Devon Luggage sells is meant to be carried on a plane, quite a change from the huge steamer trunk that Means bought as decoration for his store. Travelers also don’t want to pay more to check bags that weigh more than 50 pounds.

Devon Luggage is the city’s only seller of Briggs & Riley luggage, known for its outside handle system and lifetime guarantee “that totally covers everything – even airline damage,” Means said.

The shop also carries Korchmar leather goods and the Samsonite, Pathfinder and TravelPro lines of luggage, among others. Means also sells accessories, many having to do with security, such as pouches for valuables that fit under clothing and purses with cut-proof straps.

There are neck pillows, eye masks, earplugs, umbrellas, wallets, flasks and luggage tags with team colors or sayings (“Careful … my shoes are in here”).

Devon Luggage has been the city’s only specialty luggage store for several years. Staying small – Means says he has two part-time employees – and staying put in a building he owns has been a successful business model.

That, and the zippers.

This story was originally published January 6, 2016 at 4:16 PM with the headline "Small Business Spotlight: Repairs, convenience keep Devon Luggage up to date."