Tandy Leather Factory
|
Formerly called
|
The Leather Factory, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Public | |
| Traded as | NASDAQ: TLF |
| Industry | Retail |
| Predecessors | Midas Leathercraft Tool Company Brown Group, Inc. |
| Founded | 1919 in Fort Worth, Texas |
| Founders | Norton Hinckley Dave L. Tandy |
| Headquarters | Fort Worth, Texas |
|
Number of locations
|
108 (2013) |
|
Area served
|
Worldwide |
|
Key people
|
Shannon L. Greene (Interim) (CEO) Shannon L. Greene (CFO) |
| Products | Leather goods and related products |
| Revenue |
 $78.284 million (2013) |
|
$11.226 million (2013) |
|
| Profit |
$7.265 million (2013) |
| Total assets |
$56.398 million (2013) |
|
Number of employees
|
571 (2013) |
| Subsidiaries | The Leather Factory, LP The Leather Factory of Canada, Ltd Tandy Leather Co., LP Tandy Leather Factory UK, Ltd. Tandy Leather Factory Australia Pty, Ltd. Tandy Leather Factory Espana, SL |
| Website | www |
Tandy Leather Factory, Inc. is a specialty retailer and wholesale distributor of leather and leather related products. It operates in three divisions: Wholesale Leathercraft, Retail Leathercraft and international leathercraft. Originally part of the Tandy Corporation, Tandy Leather has gone through a series of acquisitions and mergers, eventually being sold to The Leather Factory in 2000. Currently Tandy Leather Factory has over 100 stores worldwide. The Tandy Leather headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas also houses the Al and Ann Stohlman Museum.
Tandy Leather began as a family-owned leather goods company based in Fort Worth, Texas in 1919. Norton Hinckley and Dave L. Tandy partnered to start the Hinckley-Tandy Leather Company and concentrated their efforts on selling sole leather and other supplies to shoe repair dealers in Texas. During World War II, civilian leather rationing prompted the company to move towards leatherworking as a hobby, which gave the company supply priority by providing for the armed forces.
Tandy's son, Charles joined the business after returning from the war in 1948. He had been tracking the growth of leathercraft through correspondence with his father and wanted to put more focus on this industry. Among his first moves was the opening of the first two retail stores in 1950 specializing exclusively in leathercraft. Norton Hinckley did not agree with the transition and the founders came to an agreement where the company split and Hinckley would continue in the shoe findings industry.
Tandy Leather relied heavily on its formula of mail order sales, however the venture made a 100 percent return on investment the first year. Tandy had $2.9 million in sales and opened 15 stores within the first two years. The following decade was filled with rapid growth through the continuous opening of new stores and the acquisition of other handicraft companies. By 1961, Tandy Leather was operating 125 stores in 105 cities of the United States and Canada and the company name was changed to Tandy Corporation. In 1963, Tandy Corporation acquired management control of the Radio Shack Corporation and, after two years, Charles Tandy had turned the company's $4 million loss into a profit. During that time of recovery, the Tandy Corporation purchased common stock until they owned 85% of the outstanding Radio Shack common stock.
In 1975, the Tandy Corporation Board of Directors announced a plan to separate Tandy's businesses into three distinct publicly held companies. The two new companies would be named Tandycrafts, Inc. and Tex Tan-Hickok, Inc. This plan was publicized as a strategy to provide intensive leadership and tailored management of the three distinct and diverse businesses of the company. With this transition, Radio Shack and Tandy Leather Company were no longer under the same corporate umbrella.
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