Rod Bremer followed in his boss’ footsteps when he left his job at Kershaw Knives to start his own knife company, Columbia River Knife and Tool.
It was almost exactly what Pete Kershaw had done two decades earlier, when he left knifemaker Gerber Gear to found his own company.
Bremer, then a top salesperson for Kershaw, felt Japanese manufacturing had become too expensive and that factories in Taiwan could deliver the same or better quality at a lower price.
So he started Columbia River Knife and Tool in 1994, a competitor to his former colleagues at Kershaw — though it doesn’t always feel that way.
“Pete Kershaw to this day will occasionally stop in and say hello to his godchildren,” Bremer said. “It’s a pretty cool little industry that way.”
Great Article. We have covered the Portland Center of Knife Excellence fairly extensively since it was founded.
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