Leather Sale At Tandy

[raysouth]

For those seeking project leather, Tandy is now offering the following:

CRAFTSMAN OAK SIDES 3-4 OZ, 16 TO 18 SQ FT. $55.49

OAK-LEAF SIDES 3 TO 4 OZ, 16 TO 18 SQ.FT. $66.49

OAK-LEAF SIDES 6 TO 7 OZ, 16 TO 18 SQ. FT. $89.49

The sides always seemed to be 20-26 sq. ft. but perhaps these were small critters. lol.

These are good for miscellaneous projects and for those just getting into the craft. Can be used for nearly anything you desire but may be a lesser quality than some other leathers.

Just though I would pass this on for the benefit of you that may not be on Tandy's mailing list. Received this special flyer today and the sale is good until 2/28/15.

If you go to their site and not able to locate these, drop me a pm and I will give you the numbers to use to locate them on the site.

Hope this is beneficial for some folks.

God Bless. Ray

[veedub3]

They are in the system on sale already so when the person goes to checkout it rings up with the sale price automatically, although I will say at the Tandy I was at earlier in the week, those sides looked like they were in a fight with a barb wire gang and the barb wire won. One piece looked like it was tanned by Edward scissor hands.

Maybe other locations will have better stock!

Karina

[Ferg]

I have bought from Tandy for many years but I have stopped. We have visited the Columbus,OH store twice in the last year, the quality of product is the worst I have ever seen it. Plus: very low stock on hand. Haven't even bothered with the Cincy store.

The flyers from them are almost entirely "Junk". I don't get it.

ferg

[NVLeatherWorx]

They have lost their way and have nothing in common with the Tandy that we all grew up with. The years since the change of ownership have slowly seen the quality of materials go down while the prices have gone through the roof. I still remember when I could get beautiful Live Oak leather for belts (9-10 oz.) for about $4.65 a square foot; man those were the days.

On the leathers that you see on their most recent flyer: these are the rejects that have been sitting in warehouse for awhile now as they are phasing some of the weights out by grade. If you pay really close attention to the standard listing on their website you will notice that they have removed some of the weights from their Craftsman Oak and Oak-Leaf brands; just so happens that the weights they removed are these very sides that they are selling off at the fire sale prices. And the smaller sizes means that these sides are the ones that did not pass muster to go out on the table under the regular pricing so they hung on to them until their inventory was down to the closeout level and then toss them out there at a bargain price. I have also seen some of these sides where the Craftsman Oak looked better than the Oak-Leaf and that just ain't sposed to happen.

Word is that Tandy plans on expanding the H.O. offerings but I have already addressed it with them that we can get our H.O. from any other source for much less than even their Elite pricing is set at. As a business pricing customer for several supply outlets I am given the best pricing available and I have told Tandy that I can get the same 8-9 oz. side that they are selling for less than they can offer it to me and that includes shipping; with some savings left over. Their response was that they know about the other's pricing but they are going to be putting the rest of the suppliers out of business because of convenience to be able to walk into a store and walk out with the merchandise in hand. I kind of reminded them that today's consumer will wait a couple of extra days to get what they need if they can get it from somewhere else and have it shipped to them for less and that if they needed proof of that, just look at what has been happening to some of the large well known companies like Sears and such. They can't even stay alive because just about everything they have on their shelves and shopping floor (exact brands included, no "similar" items) can be purchased online or through other outlets for less, even with shipping. I have a feeling that they may be in for a rude awakening shortly if they think that they will put everyone else out of business and become the sole source for our craft. Somebody has been moving the HQ to Colorado and partaking of that wacky weed.

[thefanninator]

I went in just the other day just to grab some Fiebing's dye and leather cement. Only dyes and finishes - no cement. I checked up front - not even in their catalog. I guess they want to push the ecoflo stuff.

I found what I wanted at Hobby Lobby today.

[Pounder]

Rarely deal with Tandy anymore, that previous two trips to the Indianapolis store resulted in them not having it in stock, the manager said she had ordered these items (zippers) three times and had not received them. She said she could get them from another store and have them shipped to me. I thanked her but declined and found the exact item at JoAnn's for less. I wrote Tandy corporate and asked them to please stock the Indianapolis store which was only forwarded to the store manager who was less than enthusiastic with me. Moral of this story to Tandy, you are not the only game in town. I just wish Tandy Corporate would read these posts.

[raysouth]

It is indeed, sad to see so many negatives about Tandy but seems to be the sign of the times. So many others seem to have gone the same route and one that comes to mind of late is the downfall of RadioShack.

There is still some good coming out of Tandy but I do agree that things are changing and not for the good of the folks involved in the craft.

One item that is bothersome is when items are advertised and then not available in the stores and long backorder becomes the norm. Tandy is not the only one that has short comings in this area. Very common occurrence today.

Tandy was the place to go for many years but now it appears that the drift is forgetting from whence they came. Don't understand the mentality of companies not willing to listen to input from the very folks that make their operations a success. Strange way to do things, in my opinion.

The manager of the Tandy store I use is still a good friend and does whatever possible to help me with my selections. Truthful and willing to go the extra mile for his customers so I must say, not everything is sour grapes. I don't purchase nearly as much as in the past as so many other sources are now available and with competitively priced merchandise.

Hope they are able to see, one day, that they need to make some adjustments but I have doubts it will happen. Like so many of the big box stores that have come and gone.

God Bless.

Ray

[NVLeatherWorx]

Ray: The Tandy store in my area had a great manager as well who went out of the way for his customers but they transferred him off to one of the California stores and then tied his hands. Since then they have had 4 different managers here and they do nothing but train future managers for other stores; not a single person in the store at any time knows anything about their products or merchandise. The current manager is obviously a company man because in his eyes Tandy is the ONLY option on the market for your materials and supplies. Kind of pisses him off when I show him my delivery tickets from other sources where I get the same things that Tandy offers for at least 1/3 to 1/2 of what the price he offers, and that even includes shipping. Don't do it intentionally but don't sit there and tell me that there are no other better priced sources or that what you have isn't available anywhere else. I keep telling him that I have been working with leather longer than he could spell it so I must know something.

[Studio-N]

If the evil empire is out of stock, it will stay that way for at least a month or more. Remember - it's Chinese New Year! Celebrations last 2 weeks,

so the docks will be mostly shut down and there will be quite a backlog when the workers return. And where does Tandy stuff come from?

China. They will fly in some of their most critical items, but murphies law usually has it not being the one thing you need. so sit and wait a while.

[raysouth]

I find it easy to agree with what folks are saying but now lets see if we can get some of the folks to post a listing of suppliers that carry most of the items we need, better leather prices, supplies, tools, etc. You get the picture.

It would be nice to be able to develop a listing of the suppliers that can fill our needs, without having to do a hunt and find type scenario.

Perhaps some of the suppliers that read or learn of this can be of assistance.

It may be a pipe dream but would certainly benefit many of us.

God Bless.

Ray