Where does Tandy’s leather come from?

[rivetandchain]

I’m hoping someone knows where Tandy’s veg tanned leather comes from, specifically their tooling leather, harness leather and the European single bends that they sell. Any insight would be much appreciated.

I'm in Canada, I'm not sure whether that changes things considering Tandy has locations around the world. I would just like to know which tanneries they buy from.

Edited January 5, 2018 by rivetandchain

[Rockoboy]

Most of it comes from cows, as far as I know anyway.

Always glad to help with any questions I have the answer to.

[alpha2]

Rockoboy beat me to it. I'm slowin' down!

Actually, they seem to get a lot of it from Brazil and other South American countries. Usually they will say in their literature where they source it, usually. It will often be on the leather itself, but that doesn't help you if you're not in one their stores. I know for me that I have a hard time sorting through their stuff and finding a decent hide without a lot of waste. At a premium price.

[Mattsbagger]

I will probby stop by Tandy tomorrow. I will look at the sticker on the Euro bends and see if they say. There Oak leaf and Craftsman grade usually say Argentina on the stickers in my Colorado Springs Tandy.

[DJole]

The stickers on the hides just to my left (three tooling bellies) read "made in Argentina."  It's not harness nor European single bend, however. 

[OLDNSLOW]

down south here in Tennessee it is the same as all the other guys said, and if it is the lower grade you can count on sceeter bite and scar marks that show up really bad. so buyer beware

[strathmoredesigns]

I've seen tannery marks on some of their Craftsman Oak sides....

[Mattsbagger]

Their European bends are labeled "Belgium".

[bikermutt07]

I see'em as the Home Depot of leather. Lots of stuff readily available, not the best quality, and priced at a premium.

I am also starting to see patterns in their business model. The introduce items at a high premium, this catches the newcomers. Then they will have these items on sale throughout the year. Then, it will go to the clearance rack where it is marked down to a reasonable asking price. Then a year or so later, similar items are available again at high premium prices for newcomers. 

I have witnessed this process over and over with supplies and different hardware. 

Their staple products don't seem to fall into this revolving net, such as tools and leathers.They stay in the high premium to sale range, which is still overpriced from what I see (compared to other companies).

This is only an observation and a speculation on my part. The staff at my local Tandy are very friendly. I'm just not in love with corporate.

 

[olfart]

10 hours ago, bikermutt07 said:

I see'em as the Home Depot of leather. Lots of stuff readily available, not the best quality, and priced at a premium.

I am also starting to see patterns in their business model. The introduce items at a high premium, this catches the newcomers. Then they will have these items on sale throughout the year. Then, it will go to the clearance rack where it is marked down to a reasonable asking price. Then a year or so later, similar items are available again at high premium prices for newcomers. 

I have witnessed this process over and over with supplies and different hardware. 

Their staple products don't seem to fall into this revolving net, such as tools and leathers.They stay in the high premium to sale range, which is still overpriced from what I see (compared to other companies).

This is only an observation and a speculation on my part. The staff at my local Tandy are very friendly. I'm just not in love with corporate.

 

While you're right about the cycle, the reason behind it likely is to dump what's on their shelves before the mandatory inventory in January where they get hit with a tax for everything they have in stock. After tax time, they rebuild their stock again.  Same with all retail stores.

You're also right about the staff at the Bossier City store.  Great folks.