About Us
A proud tradition for over 130 years. Zelikovitz Leathers is the oldest distributor of leather & craft supplies in the World.
Originally founded as S. Cohen & Son in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1890 by Samuel Cohen, the company was moved to Ottawa in 1905 by his son, Morris Zelikovitz, and renamed it to Zelikovitz Leathers and Shoe Findings. The business opened on Rideau Street and later moved to Bank Street. Morris' son, Joseph Zelikovitz, changed the name of the enterprise to Zelikovitz Leathers. Zelikovitz Leathers has always set the standard for quality.
With our Head Office in Ottawa Canada, Zelikovitz Leathers services the US and World markets through our Distribution Centre in Ogdensburg, NY. Our partnership with the US postal service has allowed us to compete in the global marketplace, moving product quickly, efficiently and at reasonable cost.
Zelikovitz Leathers is the authorized distributor for many quality products. We like to say "Serious crafts for serious crafters"
Here are a few of our major products:
Realeather Crafts, Fiebing's, Garland, C.S. Osborne, OLFA, Crazy Crow Trading, Beadalon, Beadsmith, Mediaeval Miscellanea, Zelikovitz Professional Products and YKK to name a few.
Our Clients are wholesale, retail and from the manufacturing sector.
A little family history:
A Football legend
Joe Zelikovitz, Ottawa Rough Riders No. 25, star "flying wing" (halfback) of the 1930s, intercepted seven passes in one game. It seems improbable.
The brief history paints him as one of Ottawa's greatest athletes in many sports, and he earned the nickname The Flying Hebrew courtesy of the sportswriters of his day. He is a member of the Ottawa Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
The game was Oct. 15, 1936, a Saturday. The following Monday the Citizen's coverage was massive, and written by sports editor Tommy Shields. Joseph Zelikovitz was the hero of the day.
Sports heroes of his day were routinely offered jobs with the police department or fire department. Without television sports heroes to overshadow them, they were applauded when they walked into rooms. They were paid little and did it for the love of the game.
Joe turned down an offer to be a cop, and became the third generation to run the family business on Bank Street, Zelikovitz's Leather Goods. Joe was loved by everyone and contributed to the huge success of this company.
May 31st 2004. In Joe's memory:
(OTTAWA, ONTARIO) – The Ottawa Hospital Foundation today announced a $500,000 donation from Inez Zelikovitz and her late husband, Joseph, which will be put toward much-needed improvements at the Civic Campus of The Ottawa Hospital. The announcement was made at a reception held this morning at the Civic Campus.
To recognize this donation, The Ottawa Hospital will rename the admitting area of the Civic Campus the “Inez and Joseph Zelikovitz Admitting/Patient Registration Centre.”
“Mrs. Zelikovitz is well-known within the Ottawa healthcare community for her kind spirit and her dedication to helping others,” said Susan Doyle, President and CEO of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation. “Her continued commitment and dedication is truly outstanding and appreciated.”
“Community support from individuals and organizations allows The Ottawa Hospital to provide the very best in healthcare,” said Dr. Jack Kitts, President and CEO of The Ottawa Hospital. “This generous gift will go to priority areas at the Civic Campus, helping us build an outstanding hospital that has the latest technology and facilities.”
Inez and Joseph Zelikovitz promised each other that, because they had no children, the one who lived longer would give everything they had to charity. Since Joseph’s death in 1998, Mrs. Zelikovitz has contributed millions of dollars to community organizations, including United Way/Centraide Ottawa, CHEO, the Food Bank and the University of Ottawa Heart Institute.
June 1st 2004, the company reins were taken over by Jamie Melamed. With over 55 years experience as a leathercrafter, it was Jamie's goal to transition the company from a supplier to the shoe industry to the priemier supplier of leathercraft and related craft supplies. A long family tradition, Jamie's wife and Joseph Zelikovitz were cousins.
In addition to our main website, we operate several other online stores (ebay, etsy,amazon, etc).