The cat ripped the leather couch. The dog chewed up the boat seat. Hail smashed holes in the vinyl siding on the house. Does one have to replace these things, or live with a repair that doesn’t match the rest of the object?

Shane and Trina Hickman, new owners of Fibrenew of Great Falls, offer another option: they will restore and repair the item, and then dye it to match perfectly.

“Anywhere there’s leather, plastic, or vinyl, if it’s repairable, we can repair it,” says Hickman.

They bring a new-to-Great Falls franchise called Fibrenew. The products and techniques were developed and tested in Calgary, Alberta, and have been used since 1980. Although there are presently 350 franchises across North America and in five countries, people from Great Falls will see them for the first time at the 2016 Home and Garden Show and Sale.

Hickman is enthusiastic about the environmentally-friendly possibility of helping individuals and businesses repair their items rather than send them to the landfill. He can’t promise that they will come back looking like new, but he says it will be close .... read more!