Tandy Leather August sales up 20%
US leather retailer Tandy Leather Factory has reported that sales for the month of August were $5.3 million, up 20% compared to August 2010 sales of $4.4 million. Year to date sales are up 11% to $42.2 million in the current year from $37.9 million last year.
Retail Leathercraft sales rose 33% to $3 million compared to August 2010 sales of $2.3 million. For the month, the 76 comparable stores’ sales were up 32% compared to the same period last year. The one store opened since August 2010 added August sales of $19,000. Year-to-date sales for Retail Leathercraft are $23.5 million this year, a 17% increase over sales of $20.1 million for the same period of 2010. For the year to date, the 75 comparable stores’ sales were up 16% compared to sales reported for the same period in 2010.
Wholesale Leathercraft posted sales of $2.1 million for August, up 6% compared to August 2010 sales of $2 million. Within the Wholesale Leathercraft division, same store sales were up 13% for the month while the National Account group’s sales were down 25% from August 2010. For the year to date, Wholesale Leathercraft sales are $17.4 million compared to $16.8 million in 2010, up 3%. As of the end of August, year to date same store sales were up 6% compared to the same period last year and the National Account group’s sales are down 5%.
International Leathercraft’s sales rose 30% to $149,000 compared to August 2010 sales of $115,000. Year-to-date sales are $1.4 million this year, a 31% increase over sales of $1 million for the same period of 2010. International Leathercraft consists of one store located in the UK.
CEO and President, Jon Thompson, said: “One of our many priorities is to balance sales and inventory. Our inventory has been increasing over the past several quarters as we have purchased larger quantities of certain items that we can sell aggressively and still meet our gross margin targets. Our August sales results are evidence that we are on the right track.”
Shannon L. Greene, CFO, said: “We have talked for months about taking advantage of those special buying opportunities as they present themselves and it certainly paid off for us in August. Generating strong sales while protecting gross margins is a win-win.”
