Working for Tandy

[Froghunter]

OK...my turn....

I DO work for Tandy. For about 8 months now. I am training in the Orlando Store under the manager and will hopefully be getting my own store very soon.

I gotta tell ya I am proud to be associated with this company. It is run by individuals that haven't forgotten what "Customer service" really means. And they do care about the employees as much as they do the customers, which in the retail world is VERY uncommon. One of the things that really struck me is the prevailing idea to always make the customer happy. We all know that this is a foreign concept in most stores.

I am 41 years old and this is my retirement job. I am looking forward to the chance to work and do something I love to do in my tarnished years! By the way, this is my first retail job.

Now to answer a question I know is burning in all of your chests, do I use Tandy exclusively for product? Absolutely NOT. I am a business owner and know the value of suppliers and shopping around. I am not stoopid! However, with that being said, for the most part, Our stores offer most everthing the hobbyist, serious leatherworker, and even business owner can utilize. And it is a great place to meet other crafters, both hobbyist and professional, to learn from, bounce ideas off of...whatever.

I hope we are around for a good long time!

If you have never been to a Tandy Store I challenge you to find the nearest one and visit, meet the Manager and employees, take in some of your stuff and share a cup of coffee and some ideas. Maybe even volunteer to teach a class. You probably won't get money in return, but just knowing you are doing what you can to further the craft and teach some noob how to lace, dye or run a knfe line, is very rewarding!!!

If you are in the Central Florida area, stop in and see me.....I'll buy the coffee!

[wildrose]

Side note.... is it a state law thing? I have heard that some stated require the fuel to be pumped by "qualified" person....

I used to work as a cable contractor.... very nasty dirty work crawling under houses and up poles all day. I had a lady customer ask me once how much I made, when i told her I made over $80,000 the previous year I saw her actually falter and almost drop what she had in her hands.... It was fun...

It is, I think. I'm in PA now, but just across in Jersey, you're not ALLOWED to pump your own - it says so right on the pumps, actually it says it's illegal! I think that's a bit pathetic myself...

[Froghunter]

It is, I think. I'm in PA now, but just across in Jersey, you're not ALLOWED to pump your own - it says so right on the pumps, actually it says it's illegal! I think that's a bit pathetic myself...

The Oregon law is actually in place at the bequest of the citizens. It is voted in everytime it hits the ballots. Most people would rather pay a few cents a gallon more and not get gas on their work clothes, or have to get out of the vehicle on a cruddy day.

Plus in the smaller towns, the feel of the "old time" SERVICE stations is alive and well! I actually enjoyed it when I lived there! I am a native!

[richclickerdies]

tandy in ft.worth on 820 is always out of everything , an most of the people are smart azza

[ClayB]

The poll wouldn't take my vote either.

I would consider working for Tandy if I didn't have to reloctate, do book work, or deal with grumpy customers. If it weren't for Tandy, I would have never gotten into leather work, so I feel I owe them. I think they have some really great people working for them too. I hope they are around for a long time. People complain, and maybe they have a reason, but I think that Tandy is working on the problems. They are working on improving the Craftool line. They came up with new dyes and finishes that will be legal to use in the future. I have been using the Eco Flow dyes and the more I play with them, the more I like them. They also now have some better quality leather. It costs more, but it's there if you want it. I just ordered a side of it from Clay Miller at the Rapid City Store and hope to get to try it out this weekend.

I don't think anyone that works for Tandy has anything to be embarrassed about. If there was a store near me, I would be really temtped to see if they'd hire me.

Tandy has an advertisement in the last issue of the Leather Crafters and Saddlers Journal saying they are now hiring. To apply, contact Tandy at storeops@leatherfactory.com

[Hilly]

I wasn't allowed to vote either, so I'll just put my thoughts here.... I've never worked for Tandy, but it might be fun to work there. Any conclusions about Tandy I've expressed in the past have been because of some people that work there, not Tandy itself.

On the other hand, I've been greatly helped by another Tandy employee at another store, and he went above and beyond to help me, to help maintain a positive image of the company.

If I worked there, my main goal would be to provide good customer service. I feel it would keep repeat customers. Just like when you go to a restaraunt with bad service.... you probably will never go back, just for that reason. And maybe I'd get an employee discount.

I actually find Tandy a good resource. Just not the one nearest me.

[cjbleather]

This is not a thread for Tandy bashing. Like it or hate it, Tandy is THE retailer for most people who like to work with leather as a hobby. Tandy has had an enormous influence on the leatherworking psyche, as well as the materials and tools we frequently see.

I liked working for Tandy, but I learned quickly to keep my mouth shut at IFoLG shows about it. When people found out I worked for Tandy, they kinda rolled their eyes. A couple of people here have almost apologized for working there. ("Don't hold it against me!") Right or wrong, that's silly. Working for Tandy is an honest living, even if otherwise professional people want to throw rotten tomatoes at you.

I thought it would be interesting to address the elephant in the room- have you ever thought about working for Tandy?

Johanna

Johanna, Wanted to vote but it wouldn't let me. So, here are my choices 1, No, never will, 2, Customer Service, 3, No other reason (Manager had no interest in working with our guild [O-MI-O]. So, I have not interest in him), 4, Doesn't apply. Carlb

[Russ]

Johanna;

The poll also wouldn't let me vote....so I played around with it a little and noticed that it would only let me vote if I voted on ALL the questions. The last one, if I left it blank (since I've never worked there) would cause the error. Just for your info. Oh yeah. The poll is screwed up now because I lied on the last question! Kinda like people lie about which presidential candidate they're gonna vote for!

[Johanna]

Good catch, Russ! I fixed the poll to have a "does not apply to me" as a choice. Maybe the folks who couldn't vote will try again?

In retail, we say the customer who complains does us a favor by giving us the opportunity to correct the original problem and keep the customer. Hilly made a good point:

Any conclusions about Tandy I've expressed in the past have been because of some people that work there, not Tandy itself.

If you are not happy with the person representing Tandy, or whatever retailer, you have to let someone know or service will never change, and you won't be satisfied. If you follow the chain and keep complaining upwards, responsible managers will probably try to make things right. If you don't let them know directly what is wrong, you can bet you won't be the only unhappy customer.

Johanna

[bcurrier]

I thought a bit about the Wal Mart comparison, above. I think a better comparison is McDonalds - limited menu, relatively low but predictable quality, usually good service but can apparently differ from site to site. My personal experience with Tandy customer service has been very good at several stores, so I'm surprised to hear some of the negative stories.

I was at my local Tandy today. I needed thread today and they had the only 277 locally I could find (A&E bonded poly, which was WAY too expensive, by the way). I also picked up some glue and deglazer. Tandy is reliable for decent liquid supplies (dyes, glues/cements, edge coats, top finishes, etc.), has a few decent tools, carries some worthwhile supplies like needles, rivets, etc., but a lot of the stuff is just awful. I looked through the pile of "premium" 7/8 oz. sides they had on a house special, for example. What a wrinkled, blotchy, scarred, cut & scraped, uneven, dry and faded mess! Granted, that's why it was on sale, but the regular price veg tan stuff didn't look a whole lot better.

The manager, on the other hand, was great, answering questions about some acrylics he carries, and offered to mail me the gum trag. on which he was out of stock without a shipping charge.

I guess I always leave a Tandy wishing they offered better, or maybe a fuller range of quality. But, as it is, it's more like a convenience store for certain types of supplies only.

Bill

[cjbleather]

Good catch, Russ! I fixed the poll to have a "does not apply to me" as a choice. Maybe the folks who couldn't vote will try again?

In retail, we say the customer who complains does us a favor by giving us the opportunity to correct the original problem and keep the customer. Hilly made a good point:

If you are not happy with the person representing Tandy, or whatever retailer, you have to let someone know or service will never change, and you won't be satisfied. If you follow the chain and keep complaining upwards, responsible managers will probably try to make things right. If you don't let them know directly what is wrong, you can bet you won't be the only unhappy customer.

Johanna

Johanna, I agree with you. But, even after my first complaint was answered by someone in corp, I never did hear from the manager. Now it is a mute point as I think our guild is belly up because of the lack of a meeting place. So, it is kinda of hard to have anything but a cold feeling about Tandy. Carlb

[Duke]

THANK YOU BILL!!!!! you hit the nail on the head. everyone wants top quality, but dont want to pay for it.in order to keep a business running, and inventory in the store, so that people will still have merchandise to buy,tandy has been forced to go overseas for alot of thier stuff. I work for tandy, and have only been there for a little over 6 months but I am proud to say I work there. yes, I am guilty of apoligizing for working there, but that is only because I am not proud of the way that business is being ran. for the merchandise that we sell, and the availability that he have of it, and the fact that our customer service is a standard to be kept(at least in my store), I have alot of pride in the company that I work for. I wish the pay was better, but hey, it keeps me indoors out of the weather during the winter, and the hot sun off my back during the summer.we can all take the stick to the bull :deadhorse: and say that tandy has gone down the drain, but if we think back we will realize that at some point in time, we have all had dealings with tandy. and 98% of you will say that that experience was good to great.

I would like to add a different point of view and that is the decline in any and all Hand Craft Hobbies whether it be leather craft, wood burning, plastic or metal model building or electronics for that matter. If you look at what happened to Tandy, and I remember the store in Baltimore, Md in the 1970s and all the supplies, kits, tools, etc. they had compared to what they have now and look at the other "hobby" industries over the last 30 years in the US and you will find that they have all declined. Since I work in the electronics industry I look around and wonder what happened to Heath Kit, or the Radio Shack kits where you could build your own radio, then later you own computer from the basic components, e.g. chips, resistors, capacitors. Go to a Radio Shack store today and almost all of their piece parts are gone and will never come back. We have grown into a "must have it now, it must be cheap, I will throw it away in less than a year because there is a new model" society.

Quality is an interesting issue when you are trying to stay in business in a very small niche market. I recently received my Uncles tools set from the 1940s and 1950s. There is one crafttool that I now have three versions of the same bevel. You can see how the tool head has grown in size over the years. I will keep three because of that size variation. Other than size, the only real difference is in the quality of the chrome plating with the 2000 version being the worst. I don't blame Tandy for that since I also ran into the same problem in restoring my wife's 1959 Triumph TR3A Roadster. To find good chrome plating today means first finding a company that still does chrome plating on metal and not on plastic. Very similar to the problem we now have with finding a tanning company in the US.

I better stop my rambling now but want to sum this all up, in MY OPINION and it is CLOUDED with my experience, If you look at what is happening to basic manufacturing industries in the US, and how we have devalued people that work with their hands (except sports figures) we are slowly losing them to foreign countries and what is left are the assembly plants, and service jobs. Time to climb down from the soap box.

Thank all of you for letting me ramble on.

[AlcoveShop]

Couldnt vote either.

That aside, I did work for Tandy for a number of years, then Leather Factory and ultimately TandyLeatherFactory. (20 Years on and off)

and another 10 prior just plain being involved.

I'm glad to be NOT working for them any longer for a number of reasons, very few of them personal- it's more what has become of the system. (This can apply to alot of businesses mind you)

Its no secret that a vast majority of the products we find now (not just from them) are imported. Tandy is great for introductory level hobby, but beyond basic you start to find various issues that leave you really thinking hard if you want to improve; Being on the management side of the counter, you quickly learn to make up for the low quality product's shortcomings the best you can, and trust me, it's not always easy. Personally, I'll say this: The hardest thing for me to do as a manager was to keep the "crafstman" under control; If you ask me specific questions, I'll give you answers you probably wouldnt like much. (So dont)

The imported thing could very well be a whole discussion thread unto itself (hey, not a bad idea!) nut in dealing with the poll, I'll simply say I worked for them for a very long time, and would never go back. My efforts are concentrated on bringing our money back to the states- Tandy isnt responsible for all the propaganda regarding domestic product being high priced, but I'm sure (No, positive!) Charles Tandy would have swallowed a case of cigars to see the mess that the industry is in now.

On the plus side I'll give TLF some kudos- Some of the folk in corporate I consider close friends (Which made my decision to begin the process of leaving all the more harder) and a pleasure to work with. Just try to remember that people there are just doing thier jobs, which ultimately comes down to being bean counter board of deeee-reeector driven. Money. They are a great company to start out with, but unless they stop making cuban cigars, hell freezes over and someone pours some alchy-hol in the dye, the industry is both being hurt and yet driven thusly. I may be jaded by so many years, but dangit, I'm happy now and beg anyone who does enjoy them/thier product, to continue doing so.

[AlcoveShop]

I thought a bit about the Wal Mart comparison, above. I think a better comparison is McDonalds - limited menu, relatively low but predictable quality, usually good service but can apparently differ from site to site. My personal experience with Tandy customer service has been very good at several stores, so I'm surprised to hear some of the negative stories.

I was at my local Tandy today. I needed thread today and they had the only 277 locally I could find (A&E bonded poly, which was WAY too expensive, by the way). I also picked up some glue and deglazer. Tandy is reliable for decent liquid supplies (dyes, glues/cements, edge coats, top finishes, etc.), has a few decent tools, carries some worthwhile supplies like needles, rivets, etc., but a lot of the stuff is just awful. I looked through the pile of "premium" 7/8 oz. sides they had on a house special, for example. What a wrinkled, blotchy, scarred, cut & scraped, uneven, dry and faded mess! Granted, that's why it was on sale, but the regular price veg tan stuff didn't look a whole lot better.

The manager, on the other hand, was great, answering questions about some acrylics he carries, and offered to mail me the gum trag. on which he was out of stock without a shipping charge.

I guess I always leave a Tandy wishing they offered better, or maybe a fuller range of quality. But, as it is, it's more like a convenience store for certain types of supplies only.

Bill

Thats it in a nutshell- trust me, the people behind the counter feel the same way. (Sigh)

[David Genadek]

Couldnt vote either.

That aside, I did work for Tandy for a number of years, then Leather Factory and ultimately TandyLeatherFactory. (20 Years on and off)

and another 10 prior just plain being involved.

I'm glad to be NOT working for them any longer for a number of reasons, very few of them personal- it's more what has become of the system. (This can apply to alot of businesses mind you)

Its no secret that a vast majority of the products we find now (not just from them) are imported. Tandy is great for introductory level hobby, but beyond basic you start to find various issues that leave you really thinking hard if you want to improve; Being on the management side of the counter, you quickly learn to make up for the low quality product's shortcomings the best you can, and trust me, it's not always easy. Personally, I'll say this: The hardest thing for me to do as a manager was to keep the "crafstman" under control; If you ask me specific questions, I'll give you answers you probably wouldnt like much. (So dont)

The imported thing could very well be a whole discussion thread unto itself (hey, not a bad idea!) nut in dealing with the poll, I'll simply say I worked for them for a very long time, and would never go back. My efforts are concentrated on bringing our money back to the states- Tandy isnt responsible for all the propaganda regarding domestic product being high priced, but I'm sure (No, positive!) Charles Tandy would have swallowed a case of cigars to see the mess that the industry is in now.

On the plus side I'll give TLF some kudos- Some of the folk in corporate I consider close friends (Which made my decision to begin the process of leaving all the more harder) and a pleasure to work with. Just try to remember that people there are just doing thier jobs, which ultimately comes down to being bean counter board of deeee-reeector driven. Money. They are a great company to start out with, but unless they stop making cuban cigars, hell freezes over and someone pours some alchy-hol in the dye, the industry is both being hurt and yet driven thusly. I may be jaded by so many years, but dangit, I'm happy now and beg anyone who does enjoy them/thier product, to continue doing so.

It is a corperation and the job of the management is to create return on the investment. If we want to complain we have to be able to give that return. If they invest in the quality are we willing to pay the price to make it worthe thier while.

With what has happened to Hidecrafters I would say no we are not. The other part of this is numbers there is not enough volume of people doing this craft to make it pay. It would be very easy to duplicate Bob Beards tool line down to every nuance and have them done in China but the 3d modeling would take some investment. Is there enough people to make that pay. I would say no or Bob would have done it by now. In my mind the best thing we can all do is start teaching and sharing our love of the art.

David Genadek

[Billy P]

Hey everyone, I just wanted to add another .02 worth to this thread. My local Tandy, Charlotte N.C. store is great to work with, the manager Billy Browne, is always helpful. Sometimes I'll call him and say hey bro I'm wanting to do so and so, I've got this on hand to work with how can I do it, and between us we'll come up with something. I like most other people call in my order and pay with my bank card. Wed. I called in a order, and we got to talking and when we hung up I had forgotten to give him my card no., he has my home ph#, but he didn't call me or anything. So Yesterday, Fri. when I got my package I found out that he had not gottenmy card# so I called him to give it to him. I asked wy didn't he call me back and he said well I knew that you'd be calling again to I'd just get it then. Yep they do lack some things, but I'd rather have them there than for it to be like it was a few years back when they were gone. I for one wish that I lived close enough to Charlotte to work there at least parttime. I don't know many Tandy managers, but the few I do know are great people, Billy Browne, Dave Howell, Clay Miller, etc, with a group like that working for them they can't be all bad. Enough rambling for now with Regards Billy P

[Hilly]

It is a corperation and the job of the management is to create return on the investment. If we want to complain we have to be able to give that return. If they invest in the quality are we willing to pay the price to make it worthe thier while.

With what has happened to Hidecrafters I would say no we are not. The other part of this is numbers there is not enough volume of people doing this craft to make it pay. It would be very easy to duplicate Bob Beards tool line down to every nuance and have them done in China but the 3d modeling would take some investment. Is there enough people to make that pay. I would say no or Bob would have done it by now. In my mind the best thing we can all do is start teaching and sharing our love of the art.

David Genadek

Do you know WHY Hidecrafters is discontinuing half their stock?

[David Genadek]

Do you know WHY Hidecrafters is discontinuing half their stock?

There could be million reasons but usually you discontinue an item because it doesn't turn enough times to justify the space it takes.

David Genadek

[Johanna]

It is a corperation and the job of the management is to create return on the investment. If we want to complain we have to be able to give that return. If they invest in the quality are we willing to pay the price to make it worthe thier while.

With what has happened to Hidecrafters I would say no we are not. The other part of this is numbers there is not enough volume of people doing this craft to make it pay. In my mind the best thing we can all do is start teaching and sharing our love of the art.

David Genadek

I would say the average American consumer appreciates the value of real leather, but can not distinguish synthetic from leather, or hand tooled from embossed, or handcrafted from mass production, the majority of the time. Al Stohlman, via Tandy, has influenced more leatherworkers in modern history than any one person in older times ever did. Now leatherworkers have the Internet.

Johanna

[David Genadek]

I would say the average American consumer appreciates the value of real leather, but can not distinguish synthetic from leather, or hand tooled from embossed, or handcrafted from mass production, the majority of the time. Al Stohlman, via Tandy, has influenced more leatherworkers in modern history than any one person in older times ever did. Now leatherworkers have the Internet.

Johanna

Johanna,

Having spent time with Bob Brown and Ellis Barnes I have been given several versions of the beginnings of the craft. Bob did what I beleave was the first instruction packet on leather craft. They sold some but not a lot in fact he still had a bunch that I brought to the federation show and sold 40 years later. Brown had two students that would end up shaping Tandy as we know it. One was T Joey Smith and the other Al Stohlman. Brown gave Smith a set of tools that he brought to Dick Mc Ghan (sp) that ended up being craftool. Smith was also responsable for many of the original designs sold through Tandy. What Charles Tandy really brought to the market was distributrion. As an artist Brown could blow Stohlman out of the water but he ended up working for the sherifs department because he had no distribution and none of his high end clients payed him. Stohlman found away of making a living through Tandy. The craft would not be where it is today with out those alignments. The thing to understand though is that this craft is a tough way to a make a living and Tandy love them or hate them have allowed the art to expand. Stohlman took Brown's ideas and really expanded them in the carving area. Now people like Peter Main and Paul Burnett are adding to that.

David Genadek

[AlcoveShop]

It is a corperation and the job of the management is to create return on the investment. If we want to complain we have to be able to give that return. If they invest in the quality are we willing to pay the price to make it worthe thier while.

With what has happened to Hidecrafters I would say no we are not. The other part of this is numbers there is not enough volume of people doing this craft to make it pay. It would be very easy to duplicate Bob Beards tool line down to every nuance and have them done in China but the 3d modeling would take some investment. Is there enough people to make that pay. I would say no or Bob would have done it by now. In my mind the best thing we can all do is start teaching and sharing our love of the art.

David Genadek

If you knew the gross profits being made on some of this stuff you might think twice. It all comes down to (for me anyways) what I call "an honest buck", or a "fair trade/value" where buyer and seller are getting equal return. Food for thought, dont want to derail the poll.

[AlcoveShop]

I would say the average American consumer appreciates the value of real leather, but can not distinguish synthetic from leather, or hand tooled from embossed, or handcrafted from mass production, the majority of the time. Al Stohlman, via Tandy, has influenced more leatherworkers in modern history than any one person in older times ever did. Now leatherworkers have the Internet.

Johanna

Thank god for the internet! Influences and controls ebb and flow with certainty

[BillB]

Johanna,

Having spent time with Bob Brown and Ellis Barnes I have been given several versions of the beginnings of the craft. Bob did what I beleave was the first instruction packet on leather craft. They sold some but not a lot in fact he still had a bunch that I brought to the federation show and sold 40 years later. Brown had two students that would end up shaping Tandy as we know it. One was T Joey Smith and the other Al Stohlman. Brown gave Smith a set of tools that he brought to Dick Mc Ghan (sp) that ended up being craftool. Smith was also responsable for many of the original designs sold through Tandy. What Charles Tandy really brought to the market was distributrion. As an artist Brown could blow Stohlman out of the water but he ended up working for the sherifs department because he had no distribution and none of his high end clients payed him. Stohlman found away of making a living through Tandy. The craft would not be where it is today with out those alignments. The thing to understand though is that this craft is a tough way to a make a living and Tandy love them or hate them have allowed the art to expand. Stohlman took Brown's ideas and really expanded them in the carving area. Now people like Peter Main and Paul Burnett are adding to that.

David Genadek

I don't know if this helps with the history, but wanted to provide the information. As I mentioned in another thread, my Uncle sent me all of his leather craft tools and books. One of those books is:

Soldier Handicrafts

TM28-325

War Department Technical Manual, June 1945.

It turns out that the War Department was teaching arts and crafts as part o the Special Services Program to give soldiers something constructive to do during their off times. The book covers 18 different arts and crafts (in order as presented in the book): Leathercraft, Woodcarving and Whittling, Woodworking, Metal Work, Plastics, Clay modeling, Puppets, Braiding and Knotting, Celluloid Etching, Block Printing, Silk Screen Printing, Poster Design and Lettering, Cartooning, Drawing, Oil Painting, Tempera, Water Color, Mural Painting.

It is very interesting reading. For example, did you know that a "Skiver is sheepskin split by a machine into very thin sheets". I always thought it was the tool. This also helps me understand where all the art work came from that is found on the nose of aircraft from WWII. This must have had great influence on these people as they returned to civilian life, yet maintained their hobbies and passed them on to their children. I still remember sitting with my dad (Army Air Corps) and building a plastic model of a B-17 where we had to build the electric motors that would spin the propellers from basic components, including wrapping the wire around the armatures. This then created a whole generation or two of hobbiest that fueled the industry up through the 80's. No wonder we are seeing a decline, there is no similar program today that would yield a similar population of hobbiest.

[AlcoveShop]

I don't know if this helps with the history, but wanted to provide the information. As I mentioned in another thread, my Uncle sent me all of his leather craft tools and books. One of those books is:

Soldier Handicrafts

TM28-325

War Department Technical Manual, June 1945.

It turns out that the War Department was teaching arts and crafts as part o the Special Services Program to give soldiers something constructive to do during their off times. The book covers 18 different arts and crafts (in order as presented in the book): Leathercraft, Woodcarving and Whittling, Woodworking, Metal Work, Plastics, Clay modeling, Puppets, Braiding and Knotting, Celluloid Etching, Block Printing, Silk Screen Printing, Poster Design and Lettering, Cartooning, Drawing, Oil Painting, Tempera, Water Color, Mural Painting.

It is very interesting reading. For example, did you know that a "Skiver is sheepskin split by a machine into very thin sheets". I always thought it was the tool. This also helps me understand where all the art work came from that is found on the nose of aircraft from WWII. This must have had great influence on these people as they returned to civilian life, yet maintained their hobbies and passed them on to their children. I still remember sitting with my dad (Army Air Corps) and building a plastic model of a B-17 where we had to build the electric motors that would spin the propellers from basic components, including wrapping the wire around the armatures. This then created a whole generation or two of hobbiest that fueled the industry up through the 80's. No wonder we are seeing a decline, there is no similar program today that would yield a similar population of hobbiest.

Good call!

We tried for quite sometime to re-establish a program within the schools- at one time they had full curriculums that could be dropped into the laps of administrators; shining times for results. Since leaving the corporate hog Ive devoted considerable time to redoing this on my own (Of course I cant cover the whole US, but I'm making an impact regionally here)

Any of you small shops can do this as well; in your region(s) most administrative systems would much rather keep the $ local. (distinct advantage for you too, trust me)

All you need to do is make sure you approach them with a program that takes almost all of the planning and design into consideration; the easier you make it for them the easier it will be to secure that business. In other words, lay it out so all they need to do is call you for materials, and provide training for the teachers (I do it for free, and even had to recruit a few other instructor level folk to help out because of high response) and leave them with just having to fill out a pre designed order.

I also provide classes to military for free (as an advertising hook) and emphasize on domestic natured materials (a BIG issue with alot of those folk). On another note, this works well with the schools too!

Glad someone brought that up!

Edited January 21, 2008 by AlcoveShop

[Regis]

Alcoveshop,

Would you elaborate more on what you are actually doing? Are you woring with public schools? What grades/ages?

Thanks