Gump Report post Posted January 24, 2015 Just came from Tandy, N.S. store. After a 10% hike just before christmas, they are hitting us with another 20% across the board price hike on Monday. I guess I will have to look at mail order hides from out west and hardware from Ontario. Shame, because they were so convienient at only 25 mins. away. So if you fellow canucks need something from Tandy, get over to a store today or pay, pay,pay on Monday. Gump Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Studio-N Report post Posted January 24, 2015 Did they give a reason why? The evil empire usually waits until March to raise their prices and put out a new price guide. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lightingale Report post Posted January 24, 2015 Ugh. All the more reason to source supplies elsewhere. Zelikovitz is still good for a lot of things, last I checked, but they don't sell hides online (and their veg tan is kinda pricey in-store). Ordering from springfieldleather can sometimes be ok as long as they don't ship UPS, and hopefully you don't get nailed by duty fees. Speaking of sourcing hides, anyone know of a good Canadian source to get Hermann Oak, one or two hides at a time? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Northmount Report post Posted January 24, 2015 Our current exchange rate is a good portion of the price increase! Canadian dollar is sitting near $0.80 US. Not nice. Also increases your cost for US purchases. Tom Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Studio-N Report post Posted January 25, 2015 geez. I didn't realize the C dollar had dropped vs. the US dollar by that much. I'm sure they will be raising the US prices too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gump Report post Posted January 25, 2015 Well this should be a boom for the few Canadian suppliers. There is Buckskin Leathers out in Alberta, and Tundra Leather in Ont. and Moore-Pearsall in Ont.& Que.,(wholesale). Gump Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lightingale Report post Posted January 25, 2015 (edited) Moore Pearsall is good, though you need to call ahead so you can go when the owner/employee is available. I'll be visiting Tundra for the first time this week. I didn't realize they were so close! Another possibility is Faulk leather, in Toronto. Not sure how much veg tan they carry. Edited January 25, 2015 by lightingale Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Avgvstvs Report post Posted January 25, 2015 @lightingale: One thing to note about Zelikovitz - their prices on the webstore are in USD... I stopped buying stuff from them as soon as I realised this. Longview leather in Alberta has Hermann Oak leather and recently started carrying Wickett & Craig. As northmount said, the exchange rate explains a good part of the raise so, if this situation persists, we will have to expect price rises on anything coming from the US (even though a lot of prices didn't really decrease while CAD was strong vs USD but that's another story...). Let's just hope we don't get gack to the good'old 60 cents on the dollar rate... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lightingale Report post Posted January 26, 2015 @lightingale: One thing to note about Zelikovitz - their prices on the webstore are in USD... I stopped buying stuff from them as soon as I realised this. I did not realize this about the currency on their website. Given what I know of the folks in-store, they probably don't even realize it themselves. They still owe me in back-orders from a couple of years ago from online orders. I don't think they have the infrastructure and know-how for online selling like Tandy or Springfield, and last time I was in-store (about a year ago, we're not around there often) they said they were hiring someone to help in this. My in-store experience has been perfect.. they're friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. In online orders, I've learned to call them before they ship to be sure things are in order. I also spoke with an acquaintance today who is involved in the sale and distribution of leather goods on a large scale. He confirmed that it's the dollar difference that's causing the hike in prices across the board for Canadians. It's not just Tandy, it's everyone. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Avgvstvs Report post Posted January 26, 2015 I'll keep a look at the currency on their website. If they switch to CAD it might become interesting to get some things through them. Thanks! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Longview Report post Posted January 26, 2015 The leather price increases are the result of the US/Canadian dollar exchange rate and price increases that were introduced on January 1st by several of the major US tanneries. We sell Wickett & Craig, Hermann Oak and a variety of chrome tanned leathers as well as tools, finishes and other leatherworking products from our shop in Alberta. Both W&C and Hermann implemented price increases the first of the year. Ninety nine percent of the products we sell are brought in from the USA and are purchased in US dollars. The exchange rate affects not only the price of the products we purchase but the freight to bring the products to Canada as well. As Northmount stated, the Canadian dollar is trading around $.80 US. The weak Canadian dollar will not only affect the price of leather but on all products that are coming from the United States. Don Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
