Two Workshops, One Hands-On Spirit: The Lieber’s Workbench Story

Put these two photographs next to each other and you’ll understand why we keep coming back to the word legacy.

In Max’s historic workshop, people stand and sit around long workbenches. Cases and materials are within reach. In today’s Albuquerque Luggage Lab, you see hands-on assembly, stacked shells, and finished bags nearby.

The spaces aren’t identical. Neither are the products or tools. But the resemblance is real: people doing the work, surrounded by the things they’re putting together.

Then: work at the bench

The old photograph gives our history a physical place. You can see the benches, the cases, and the people in the workshop. It’s a reminder that a finished travel bag starts with materials and someone’s attention.

Lieber’s roots reach back to Cleveland in 1906, when Max Lieber began the story behind our name.

Now: work at the Luggage Lab

Today, we select every component for our Legacy Line and hand-assemble the bags at our Albuquerque Luggage Lab. We source parts from the USA when we can, alongside parts from elsewhere. The assembly work happens here in New Mexico.

Our work includes thread-locking every screw with an anti-vibration compound, applying foam tape to help keep screws secure until service, and reinforcing natural stress points such as pull-handle areas with extra padding.

The connection is in the care

We aren’t claiming the methods are identical across generations. Modern spinner luggage is a different product. What we carry forward is the hands-on spirit: choose thoughtfully, do the work, and care about the name on the finished bag.

Max’s lesson still gives us a useful test: keep it simple. Does it help the customer? Do we need it?

That’s the connection we see in these photographs. Not a staged resemblance, but a familiar way of approaching the work.

Visit Lieber’s Luggage at 6515 Menaul Blvd NE in Albuquerque. Take a closer look at today’s Legacy bags and ask about the details behind them.