End Of An Era. . . .again!

[smudley]

Hello all. It's been a while since I've posted here. But, I thought this deserved a posting, I guess as a kind of warning to others out there who might find themselves in a similar situation as we in the Northwest Indiana area found ourselves this week.

Tandy Leather Factory in Merrillville, IN closed up today, Saturday, Sept 11, 2010. There was no notice given to store patrons, local leather guild members, or other groups. Our local leather guild used the store about every other month for meetings, alternating with a local church for the monthly meetings. We were scheduled to meet at the store tomorrow, Sunday. Tandy's home office sent a fellow, who arrived Wednesday morning, to close the store. He fired both employees that morning, which following their normal protocol, is SOP. The last business day for the store was set to be today. I called Wednesday morning to talk to the manager, only to find out he was no longer there, so I asked for the other employee, only to be told he was no longer there either. When I identified myself and asked what was going on, I was told they are closing the store, effective Saturday. When I asked if any patrons were going to be called, I was told "no." Had I not called that day, no one in our guild would have known anything till it was too late. We had some of our personal things in that store, that, luckily, the now former manager was able to get out before he left that day. But, had he not been able to do that,and I hadn't called that day, we would not have been able to retrieve our property unless we got lucky and someone happened to go in for supplies, and then warned the rest of us. In the opinion of everybody I talked to when I phoned them to warn about the closing, this was just DEAD WRONG!!!!

Now, to be fair to Tandy, we had all known that the store wasn't doing well and would probably close, since things just weren't improving fast enough. None of us were surprised that much with the closing of the store. However, we were all shocked with the suddenness of the closing, and absolutely no notice being given, or even attempted. When I talked to the former mgr, he said that the "closer" hadn't asked him about anyone needing to be called, or any upcoming events (classes, demos, etc) that needed to be canceled. Imagine the local Boy Scouts troop, or 4H group, or other group, coming in for a class, only to find out that the store is closed!! Just imagine what kind of image that would give them of Tandy Leather Factory!!

Several of us had, at one time or another, talked to representatives of Tandy, higher up than the regional mgr, who assured us that, unlike the closing in the late '90's, this time IF the store closed, they would give plenty of notice so we could go in and get supplies, etc, and that they would have store closing sales prices, though they had no plans to close the store. Let me repeat, none of us were shocked at the fact the store closed. Very few of the folks I've talked to are angry that the store closed, just at the way they did it. Tandy is going to open a store in Ft Wayne, IN on Sept 27, 2010 that is to "replace this one." The address will be: 3822 West Jefferson Blvd, Unit A, Ft Wayne, IN 46804. Phone:(260)432-6761 Fax:(260)436-5824 Toll Free:(877)856-0009

I guess my warning to others would be that if your local store isn't doing all that well, don't leave anything there, and have backup vendors ready, because you probably won't have notice if your local store closes. I, for one, along with most, if not all of my guild members, will never be able to trust Tandy again, and several have vowed never to purchase from Tandy again, though that will be hard to do, since Tandy supplies several other vendor companies with products (something I found out at the store today!!)they sell to us.

I apologize for the long rant, and this is not an attempt to stop folks from patronizing Tandy Leather Factory, or to liable them. Everything stated above is true and verifiable.

[KatieG]

Having had no experience with other suppliers, nor enough income to justify doing things like ordering direct from a manufacturer (for hides, at least.), this sounds like a terrible thing!!

I hope that someone verbally slaps the folks in charge - that is a terrible way to do business!!!

Personally, the only problems I've had with Tandy has been 2 bad kits (one I just got and am sad that I will have to attempt to exchange), and a problem with their red paint. (It turns to paste. No other color does it, it's insane, this is the 7th one.)

And rant away, had I been one of the people affected, I'd be ranting, too! I wonder what goes through companies' minds when they pull stuff like that. Indeed, what about classes? Parties? Scheduled meetings? Who's going to call them? Issue refunds, if they've paid in advance?

I hope that whoever caused that gets taken to task for it. That's poor management, and reflects on the entire company, not just one store, and can also affect the future careers of the previous staff. Not only do they look bad by association with the store's closing, but if they explain what happened, then they look bad for having to speak negatively on their former employers.

[wildrose]

I'm upset to hear this, yet I find it becoming commonplace in many businesses nowadays. It is VERY poor customer service, esp. to loyal customers and groups using the store. To me, it is a "sign of the times" as far as how corporations treat their clientele - that is, as if we are disposable.

The coffee shop where I was working was closed with less than 2 weeks notice. It employed almost entirely college kids - who were thus losing their source of tuition/rent funds. It happened just before Thanksgiving. We were told "have a nice holiday!" Yeah, right! And, we were told to NOT tell the regulars. Stuff that, in my opinion - I told every regular I saw that we were going to close for good the following week. They deserved the honest truth!