Tandy will increase its retail stores in the US and overseas
09/03/2010
Specialist leather retail and wholesale group Tandy Leather Factory has reported an increase in sales for the quarter, ended December 31, of 13% to $15.6 million from $13.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2008. Sales for the full year were $54.5 million, up 4% from 2008 sales of $52.5 million.
Sales in the retail division registered a 20% improvement for the quarter and, at $2.8 million, an 11% increase for the full year. For the quarter, the company’s recently troubled wholesale division showed an improvement of 5% on the same quarter in 2008, although this part of Tandy’s business registered a fall of $1.3 million for the full year.
The company’s one international store, situated in the UK, achieved a 32% increase in sales for the quarter and a total for the year of $1.3 million, an increase of 56% on the previous year’s total. The UK store opened in February 2008.
Tandy’s chief executive, Jon Thompson, commented: “2009 turned out to be a good year, despite a slow start. Our sales increased, our gross profit margin increased, and our operating margin increased. That makes for a successful year. We have a lot to build on and are looking forward to 2010. We are committed to expanding our store base, both domestically and internationally, albeit slowly. We are going to be cautious in order to ensure success.”
Chief financial officer, Shannon Greene, added: “Our goal for 2009 was to increase sales and increase earnings over 2008 and we met that goal. We ended the year with the most cash in our history. We are financially strong and we believe we are positioned to take on whatever challenges arise. Expense control will continue to be a priority, in order to maximise earnings. While we are not providing specific sales and earnings guidance, our goal for 2010 will be to increase sales and earnings over 2009.”
Ms Greene continued: “On a related note, we have made the decision to discontinue the operation of Roberts, Cushman & Company, our wholly-owned subsidiary that distributes hatbands and trims to hat manufacturers. Our focus continues to be on the expansion of our retail store chain, both domestically and internationally. That focus, along with the decline in Roberts, Cushman’s sales in recent years, led us to the decision to discontinue this division at this time. The operation has been an immaterial part of our total company for several years so the impact to our financial performance overall will hardly be noticed.”
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