US sales down, but good UK start for Tandy
06/03/2008
Tandy Leather Factory has reported that sales for the month of February were $4.4 million, a decrease of 5% from $4.6 million last year.
Year-to-date sales are down 4% to $8.9 million in the current year from $9.2 million last year.
Its Retail Leathercraft business posted a 5% sales increase for February, with sales totaling $2.1 million compared to $2.0 million in February 2007. The 64 comparable stores’ sales were down by 2% for the month compared to the same period last year. The eight stores opened in or after February 2007 added $134,000 to this year’s total.
Year-to-date sales for Retail Leathercraft are $4.1 million this year, a 2% increase on the same period in 2007 but the comparable stores’ sales were down 4%.
Wholesale Leathercraft posted sales of $2.3 million for February, a 12% decline from February 2007 sales of $2.6 million. Within the Wholesale Leathercraft division, the 30 wholesale centres’ sales (which includes Mid-Continent Leather Sales) were down 10% for the month while the National Account group posted a February sales decline of 21%. For the year to date, Wholesale Leathercraft sales are $5.0 million compared to $5.2 million in 2007.
There was better new from Tandy’s new UK store, which operates as a combination retail and wholesale store in the country’s traditional centre of leather excellence, Northampton, added sales of $11,000 in February. It was opened on February 18.
Chief executive officer and president, Ron Morgan, commented: “As expected, we’re seeing continued weakness in our sales, although our retail stores looked a little better than they did last month. There are too many concerns about the economy right now on the part of consumers and, until that changes, I expect retailers will continue to experience pressure on their sales. We will continue to invest in the development of our customer base so that at the time they have money to spend, we will be there.”
Shannon Greene, chief financial officer and treasurer, added: “I think we are off to a good start in our UK store. Every day, there are new customers requesting catalogs and placing orders. We are confident in our UK store operations team to develop a solid business in hope of offsetting some of the weakness we’re experiencing here in the US.”
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