Red Cent Report post Posted October 8, 2014 I have read on this site that a distributor/retailer sells RJF his leather. I discovered that their are ASCs. An ASC (term used by Tandy) buys from Tandy Leather and other products sold by Tandy. This is apparent as you can see the Tandy label on some store shelves. When I first started on this site, most everyone has taken Tandy to task for their quality of leather and over priced products. I am not campaigning for Tandy. I think the relationships are interesting. You might be buying Tandy leather when you call and order from your favorite distributor/retailer. A few weeks back, I ordered some "economy" hides from a west coast seller. Between the economy price and a "business number " price, it was darn good. On the phone they told me this was the same leather as their "good grade" except the dings, scars, holes, and brands. Those two hides are the sorriest pieces of leather ever. Dirty (non removable greyish spots), scuffed, and looked to be sanded on the back by a road paving scraper. No need to mention my lost order, huh? Besides the indiscriminate method of grading leather and the misleading advertisements, I have come to a conclusion that I may start driving to Tandy in Raleigh. I can take all day to cherry pick hides and as one has who has a "business number" I get some darn good prices. Better than anything I can get so far. Since I make the trip about twice a month anyway, I don't count the gas cost . I made the trip last Monday and bought an HO hide (8-9 ounce) and a Craftsman hide (5-6 ounce). Took a little over an hour but I walked out satisfied with price and some very good looking leather. We will see how it does. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NVLeatherWorx Report post Posted October 9, 2014 Tandy has a program where they do "coop" with other outlets but they have recently made some major changes to this program which actually has a negative impact on those other outlets and some of them are going to drop the Tandy relationship altogether. On the leather side of the conversation, Tandy has recently added two, yes only two, HO leathers into their inventory and I can tell you that even as a business with business pricing from their line, I can get that same HO leather (plus just about every other weight and grade available) for MUCH less than Tandy will ever be able to offer. I use HO leather pretty much exclusively and I get it from two sources: The Hide House in Napa, CA; and Springfield Leather in Springfield, MO. Yes, I have to have it shipped but I am still so far in the savings category by using these sources that I still won't even drive the 5 miles that it takes to get it from my local Tandy store. FYI, one of these suppliers that I get my HO from also has one of those agreements with Tandy and the recent changes are resulting in them starting to create, source, and produce their own (in-house concepts) to create an option to the buyer which I see eventually leading to their ultimate drop of anything Tandy branded. And that isn't a bad thing either. Give them a look and save some money; it will also help your overall profitability. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
