Our History

Black Duck® started in 1984 with 2 employees in Gnowangerup, WA. We have since grown to over 100 employees and are based now in Forrestdale, WA. Read our story below to learn about Black Duck's journey over the last 40 years.

1984

Black Duck began in a small rural town, Gnowangerup, in Western Australia in 1984
It grew from the family business Qualtarp Pty Ltd, which specialised in new and used furniture, automotive reupholstery, canvas swags, and tarpaulins.
Our name, Black Duck, derives from 'cotton duck', which was what the army and farmers used to call canvas because water runs off it, just like the duck's back! It was also a happy coincidence that the Pacific Black Duck, which is featured in our logo, is the most common breed of duck in Australia.
The idea to do seat covers came from a local farmer who approached the family and asked if they could manufacture a seat cover for his tractor, and let's just say the rest is history!

1988

After introducing seat covers to the families' range of services, they soon discovered over the next four years that heavy-duty seat canvas seat covers were something local farmers really needed. So they branched out from Qualtarp Pty Ltd and created Black Duck Canvas Products.
The logo shows the Great Southern Stirling Ranges with the sun rising behind the mountains and a Black Duck about to take off and fly.

1994

Black Duck Canvas Products attended its first tradeshow at Wagin, Woolorama, where we were able to reach a broader audience!
People started to recognise the name Black Duck® and know we produced high-quality canvas seat covers. The demand for seat covers was really starting to increase, and we couldn't keep up with the demand by continuing to hand-cut our patterns individually. We upgraded to a specialised blade cutter which gave us the ability to start cutting batches, this really helped with our manufacturing process and we were producing seat covers much more efficiently.

1995

The demand for our heavy-duty canvas seat covers was continuing to increase, and we had to decide to slow down our production of swags and tarps to keep up to date with our seat cover orders!
We had also been experimenting with other canvas products like butcher aprons, bags and muddlebacks

1997

We manufactured 2760 seat covers in 1997, which was a massive achievement for Black Duck.
We had been building up our range of patterns since 1984, and at the end of 1997, we had 83 patterns on record! The small family business was starting to grow.
Each logo was screen-printed by hand, which was very time-consuming!

1998

As the business continued to grow we had to move to a bigger manufacturing facility. We moved down the road into the old Elders building. We now had 12 employees!
We manufactured 3566 seat covers over the course of 1998.

2000

We were starting to get many inquiries from New Zealand, so we decided it was time to start selling overseas as well. This was such an exciting venture for Black Duck!
We continued growing our pattern catalogue and now had 241 seat covers on record.

2003

Black Duck was continuing to grow. Making seat covers with canvas is a very specialised skill, and we needed more employees to keep up with demand. It was time for us to move to the big city, Perth!
We moved to Champion Drive and had two manufacturing units.
We also broadened our patterns from agricultural equipment and work utes to buses. Our first bus was a Coaster!

2005

We quickly ran out of space and needed to move again; we ended up on Gillam Drive, Kelmscott.
Since moving to the city and the demand for seat covers, the specialised blade cutter we bought in 1994 was no longer cutting it! Technology had really improved, and we became the proud owners of a CNC cutting machine, which allowed us to cut larger batches and work a lot quicker with the assistance of a computer!

2006

With the move to the city, we wanted to upgrade our logo. We kept a similar concept with having the Stirling Ranges and the sunrise, but the duck's position was changed to make it look like it had just taken off to represent the growth in the business. We also introduced colour into the logo for our print advertisements to help us to stand out!

2009

Since moving to the city, we had access to many more skilled machinists, and our employee numbers continued to grow

2012

Black Duck was now supplying seat covers all over Australia and New Zealand with some international orders.

2014

We underwent another makeover to the logo you now know and love. The duck is now in full flight!

April 2019

We are always trying to grow and expand our business, and we consider ourselves to be the pioneers of seat cover protection. This is why we developed our very own fabric that would be perfect for our customers!
4Elements® is exclusive to Black Duck and offers heavy-duty protection while still being soft and flexible with the additional feature of being 100% waterproof and machine washable!
4Elements launch was a huge success, and the feedback and response to the material have been amazing.

July 2019

We outgrew Gillam Drive and moved into our new and current building, 17 Watt Link, Forrestdale, WA 6112
Our new home allows us to be as streamlined as possible in our manufacturing process, helping us get your seat covers out to you as quickly as possible.

February 2020

The finishing touches were done to the outside of our building. We have painted the building with our company colours and have added signage to the front and side.
The Duck on the side is a whopping 7m high!

Production 2020

We added 27 New Vehicles and 5 New Console Lid Cover patterns to our range. So we now have 3000 cut files in our system, an outstanding effort by the tailors and production team!
Our production team grew by eight new team members and six new sewing machines.

2020

2020 has been a completely unprecedented and unpredictable year. COVID-19 came to Australia around March 2020. We saw some changes to how things were done at Black Duck to ensure the safety of our team. Split shifts had to be applied, and the increase in sales and queries escalated due to more people exploring their own backyards.
We branched out into new ways of advertising. During the first Covid-19 lockdown, we decided to support the BP Supercars All-Star Eseries in a way that would help entertain all the Aussies stuck at home! We loved being a part of the Eseries so much that we decided to continue our support when the cars were back on the track.
Through our new partnership with Supercars, we became sponsors of Todd Hazelwood and the Brad Jones Racing Team and even had our own supercar for the Townsville rounds!
We hosted our first Black Duck trade show at the Perth 4WD and Adventure Show, which was a lot of fun interacting with and meeting new and old customers.
We are saddened to bid farewell to our Wangaratta branch, but we were lucky that some of the amazing team from Wangaratta will be joining us in WA in the new year!
We also upgraded our in-house ordering system to speed up the quoting and ordering procedures.

2024

Blackduck Seatcovers is thrilled to celebrate 40 years of providing top-quality, heavy-duty seat covers. Since our founding in 1984, we've been committed to delivering durable and reliable seat protection solutions for a wide range of vehicles, including those used in mining, construction, agriculture, and recreational 4WD activities.
Over the past four decades, our Australian-made products have evolved to meet the demands of our customers. We use materials like 14.9 oz Military Grade Canvas and our exclusive 4Elements to ensure maximum protection against wear, tear, and harsh environmental conditions. Our dedication to quality, custom-fit designs, and superior customer service has made us a trusted name in the industry.
As we celebrate this milestone, we thank our customers, partners, and team of over 100 employees for their continued support and hard work. We look forward to many more years of innovation and excellence in seat cover manufacturing.