Tandy Leather Factory, Inc. will officially re-open its Leather Factory wholesale distribution centre located in the New Orleans area on Saturday, October 1, 2005. Due to Hurricane Katrina, the store has been closed since August 29th. The store sustained no water or wind damage, however, the store had been burglarised with some inventory and approximately $200 cash from the register taken.

Chairman and CEO, Wray Thompson, commented, "Our New Orleans store was closed for 29 business days. However, we are fortunate that the store itself and most of the inventory there was not damaged or vandalised. More importantly, our employees are safe, despite the enormous loss throughout the area, and are anxious to get back to some sense of normality. On a related note, our two Houston stores are in good shape, each losing only three days of business last week. Both stores remained intact through Hurricane Rita and opened for business on Monday, September 26th. Again, we are fortunate that our employees in the Houston area are safe and back to work."