Tandy Pricing Structure Change

[NVLeatherWorx]

So, with Tandy having restructured their pricing this week and now having gone much lower than they have been in a very long time, I was wondering what anyone else has been thinking about this and what the reasoning could be.  I personally think that they were seeing a drop in their market share and came to the conclusion that their pricing was a bit high when compared to others who supply their crafter market.  However, I don't think that they have looked at the quality aspect of what they supply versus what the majority of us purchase and that they are only going to continue lose more share from this price drop.  I was looking at their leather and found that they have dropped their pricing by a huge percentage in hopes of moving more product but their leather is not of a great quality for the serious leather worker nor for any business operator who puts quality ahead of low costs.  I quit using Tandy leather decades ago when they decided to start exporting their skins to be tanned and then importing them back into the U.S. for retail sale; quality went to crap and it hasn't improved a bit since.

On the flip side, they may be getting ready to return to the business tactic of providing quality and value again as they once did many years ago, that would be nice.  It would also be nice if you could walk into a Tandy store every now and then and be able to speak with a staffer who actually knows how to work with leather instead of just spitting out the textbook babble that they are all taught when going through training, I miss those days.

Chime in if you want and I know that there are some here in this community who actually work for Tandy so, if you can, shed some light on what is happening.  It is a sure bet that Tandy is responsible for the vast majority of us who have taken up this trade, whether as a hobby or as a business, and it would not be a bad thing to see the company return to its roots.

[Tugadude]

I found this helpful...

 

[TomG]

They are eliminating the Gold and Elite memberships, I was told and lowering prices to elite or less across the board.  Businesses will still get that extra discount.

I believe that it goes into effect tonight.

 

[LeatherLegion]

      This new pricing structure has been in effect in Canada since the beginning of April. Some of the items ,including hand tools are priced even  lower than Ebay or Amazon.Affordability combined  with the great store experience, makes Tandy the one stop shop , that beginners or advanced leather workers will appreciate even  more. 

[Matt S]

Looking at the UK site (which will be a whole nother kettle o fish soon) the prices look much better. Shame about the severely reduced offerings but non-moving inventory is just a millstone around a company's neck. Hopefully they will continue with bringing out newer, more relevant offerings. I have a business account and everything's still working for me.

[JLSleather]

Tandy used to be a place to shop.  Didn't need to go there... just a call or a order form, adn I'd get decent stuff right off the truck at my door.  Then got where you needed to GO pick out the leather.  Then 'stuff' started being "discontinued"... then more stuff,... and more stuff.... seemed like every time I went there was something else they don't carry any more.   When they stopped selling Royal Meadow tooling leather there wasn't much point goin back.

Well, there was that little sales gal for a while ...

[williaty]

I've been sitting on this for 2 weeks because I wasn't sure if the person who told me would get in trouble if I brought it up here. It's been interesting to see what's happening with this. Tandy Corporate is trying to take business customers away from the stores. Business accounts are going to be.... strongly encouraged... to stop buying in store and start buying through the website. The stores have lost their authority to do ANY price changes or deals. If you normally get a bulk discount beyond wholesale through your local store, you can't do that anymore. Only corporate can make those kinds of deals now. It took some hemming and hawing to get confirmation that I could, as a business account, still buy in-store. Wholesale will now be a straight 15% off the retail price. On a bunch of the stuff I've checked so far, that means only a few pennies or dollars difference in price for me. However, a couple of the leather SKUs actually rose meaningfully for me (even though the retail price plummeted) because the former wholesale price was such a tiny fraction of the retail price.

Both of the managers I've been able to talk to about this seem to think this is part of a large corporate push to justify closing the retail stores. Take away the business customers and the stores will show less volume. If in-store sales are seriously declining, it MUST be time to shut them all, right? Less staff, less middle management, less overhead.. must mean PROFIT, right?

[bikermutt07]

I heard from my local manager a little while back that this was coming. She said, starting in Canada first then Monday in the states, all gold and elite memberships were gone and retail pricing would be lower than elite pricing. Military would still receive another 10% off of that.

The part mentioned above about closing retail stores sounds like something corporate would pull.

My local manager claimed that the new CEO had been shopping Weaver and Springfield (as well as others) and wanted to become more competitive.

The pricing sounds like it would be good for beginners, but they were already blindly overpaying. And, seasoned shoppers weren't spending money there due to pricing and quality. 

So, I would think fixing one would help, but unless they fix both, they will continue to decline.

Just my thoughts.

Edited April 27, 2019 by bikermutt07

[Sam I Am]

Hmmm... gotta check this put for myself. I know that they closed one store south of me, and opened a brand new one north of me, near where I work. And wouldn't ya know it - I JUST renewed my Gold Membership...

[bikermutt07]

12 hours ago, Sam I Am said:

Hmmm... gotta check this put for myself. I know that they closed one store south of me, and opened a brand new one north of me, near where I work. And wouldn't ya know it - I JUST renewed my Gold Membership...

My gal was cool enough to say, hey, we're about to do away with memberships, (yours is expired) so I'm giving you gold pricing for now.

Cool team at my local store.

[Northmount]

15 hours ago, Sam I Am said:

I JUST renewed my Gold Membership

I had a flyer delivered that said they would refund memberships or credit them against your purchases.  Check with your store to see if they will do it.

Tom

[Mark842]

Probably not a good thing for me for the hardware items and dyes I still purchase at my local store. The manager there always gave us great deals beyond the business discount as we are their largest customer in the area. That being said, seems like every time I try to order some hardware they discontinued the item and I have been slowly finding other sources. Good prices are nice but when you have a product line that sells good you need to know the hardware your customers are used to will remain available.

[bikermutt07]

1 hour ago, Mark842 said:

Probably not a good thing for me for the hardware items and dyes I still purchase at my local store. The manager there always gave us great deals beyond the business discount as we are their largest customer in the area. That being said, seems like every time I try to order some hardware they discontinued the item and I have been slowly finding other sources. Good prices are nice but when you have a product line that sells good you need to know the hardware your customers are used to will remain available.

 Right on. It seems they have had a continuing clearance rack the whole te I have been visiting my local store. Usually, what comes out at the beginning of the year is what you see on clearance in the 3rd and 4th quarter. Every year. 

But, hopefully that will change as well. Things should start moving off the shelves at a more steady Pace with better pricing.

[Handstitched]

G'Day,

Well, as  we no longer have a Tandy in Australia, I've conducted  a bit of a ' test'. I've just ordered a free Tandy  catalogue to see how long it takes for it to arrive in Australia from the US  . I'm guessing around 4 - 6 weeks.  

I've just checked their website here in Oz (  no shipping info)  , makes a change to see one price instead of three, and they do seem to be a bit cheaper. And depending on how long the delivery takes,( and shipping costs)  I may consider ordering from Tandy again . 

We'll see  

HS

[Tugadude]

The details I posted show that veterans still get an extra discount, businesses too.  In addition, if you recently bought a membership and feel slighted, they will refund it.  

As far as closing stores, brick and mortar stores in all walks of life are under great pressure.  According to a recent story, e-commerce sales are still growing exponentially compared to brick and mortar.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/02/online-shopping-officially-overtakes-brick-and-mortar-retail-for-the-first-time-ever.html

My local Tandy is typically empty when I visit, which isn't very often.  Maybe I am to blame?  Seriously, there tend to be two or three people working at the store whenever I'm there and there might be one other customer besides myself.  So think about the overhead.  They pay rent, utilities, worker's salaries and bear the cost of inventory while I'm buying a spool of thread and a belt buckle.  Much of what my local store sells is mail-order so bodies in the store isn't indicative of the volume of business.  The point is, if the volume of business continues to swing away from walk-in to mail-order, why have a retail site at all?

[Chakotay]

Whoa! First I'm hearing about all this. Although I can't say I'm totally surprised.

I live in Fort Worth, Texas, which is the heart of "Tandy Country". Corporate headquarters just 20 mins away and 4 (actually . . . make that 3) stores within driving distance.

I've noticed subtle changes in all the stores last year or so. Managers and employees being transfered/swapped around like musical chairs. Dwindling inventories/stocks. Discontinued items (Craftool Pro). They closed my go-to store that I went to during my lunch breaks.

And do the employees work on commission now? It sorta feels that way when I walk through the door recently.

Sort of an aside, but does anybody else hate how they remodeled their stores so that all items are in arranged in bins by item number? Takes twice as long to find anything. About half the stores (including the big Fort Worth location) went back to just hanging everthing on display racks and shelves.

Just seems like they're grasping at straws trying to find something that works.

[JLSleather]

2 hours ago, Tugadude said:

Seriously, there tend to be two or three people working at the store whenever I'm there and there might be one other customer besides myself.  So think about the overhead...if the volume of business continues to swing away from walk-in to mail-order, why have a retail site at all?

Yup, that's what i find, too. I can be in there an hour and only see  2 or 3 people come in.  Got the manager and two girls working, usually.  One early 30's, kinda cute.  Other one can't be more 'n' 21-22, kinda cute.  Wait, maybe we aint talking about the same thing any more ...

Anyway, it's about hour and a half each way from here, so I only go when I need to pick out something, which isn't very often.  

[chrisash]

They would sell more if they sorted out there web site, it's so old in design and telling you they have hides but you must ask what colour you want is discrasefull these days they should have photo's and full descriptions

Does this inspire you to buy

Quote

"We buy these value-priced cowhides as odd lots, meaning we get whatever colors (usually earth tones) the tannery has in that particular lot, therefore colors shown may not always be available. They were tanned for upholstery use, but are an ideal choice for chaps, garments, saddle seats and bags.
Weight/Thickness: 3 to 4 oz. (1.2 to 1.6 mm)
Average size: 45 to 48 sq. ft. (4.18 to 4.46 sq. meters)"

Edited April 29, 2019 by chrisash

[zuludog]

7 hours ago, Handstitched said:

G'Day,

Well, as  we no longer have a Tandy in Australia, I've conducted  a bit of a ' test'. I've just ordered a free Tandy  catalogue to see how long it takes for it to arrive in Australia from the US  . I'm guessing around 4 - 6 weeks.  

I've just checked their website here in Oz (  no shipping info)  , makes a change to see one price instead of three, and they do seem to be a bit cheaper. And depending on how long the delivery takes,( and shipping costs)  I may consider ordering from Tandy again . 

We'll see  

HS

Hello Handstitched....................Please excuse me if I'm telling you something you know already, but if you are importing leather craft items anyway, you could look at www.goodsjapan.com

 

I have bought a few things from them and I'd say the items are as good or better than Tandy. Delivery is about 3 weeks to UK; well packed. Shipping is included in their website price, but there will probably be import duties on that 

[mikesc]

They were tanned for upholstery use, but are an ideal choice for chaps, garments, saddle seats and bags.

n'importe quoi!!

Mutually exclusive uses ...garments, chaps, saddle seats and bags, upholstery, do not use ( if one is doing/ making them correctly ) the same types of skins , leathers, and tanning..Then again, I've never bought anything from Tandy, not even so much as a rivet ,and the more I read, the more I think that was an entirely sensible decision..

Edited April 29, 2019 by mikesc
typos

[R SFraser Sr]

So far, I am not seeing a big difference in the Canadian prices,

but I am getting a chuckle out of their writing style in the announcement of this new pricing scheme....

“ It’s an easier way to shop for the leathercrafting materials and supplies you need so you can get the most out of your leather, with a lot less bull! “

Which inasmuch admits that their early multi-level pricing scheme was bull.?

Edited April 29, 2019 by R SFraser Sr

[Mark842]

Got a leather from them today stating that starting today, the 29th they will begin their "Everyday Honest Prices" and that as a business customer I will get an additional 15% off.

It's as I suspected for me. I called up the manager at my local store and checked what my new prices will be for the hardware I was still purchasing from them. My great deals are gone. She can no longer give me anything better than the 15% off. Guess it was nice while it lasted. I'll be ordering elsewhere.

[GregS]

I stop in the local Tandy store about every 2 weeks or so.  Being new to the craft, I need to see the leather in person to figure out what I want to get.  When I look online, I see the various types and weights listed, but it doesn't mean a lot to me at this point in my leathercrafting career.  I also like to browse the hardware trying to figure out what I want to use on a project.  The guys that work the store have been really helpful picking stuff out.  But there's a new guy that tries to push me on to things that are WAY over priced, and even I can spot this.

I hope that they don't start closing stores, I would never have gotten started if I didn't have a Tandy store that I could stop in to see what's available.

[Chakotay]

I've made real, concerted efforts in the last couple of years to get AWAY from using Tandy. It just took me a long time to realized I was being screwed paying their outrageous prices. And their 3-tiered pricing system just irked me for some reason. I searched online and found much cheaper sources for many of my key consumables and have never looked back.

Of course I still buy from Tandy just because my location makes it so convenient. But I haven't had one of their paid accounts in about 2 years. I'm just considered "retail". And I only buy stuff when it's on sale or clearance; like the 7 to 9-ounce double shoulders the managers always say they're running out of and "don't know if they'll get any more," but yet seem to have had a constantly steady supply of for years.

I'll check out their new prices though. Looks like their Ecoweld contact cement (aka, Rena Aquilim) is a lot cheaper now. That's one I use a lot of but haven't been able to source elsewhere cheaply.

[YinTx]

1 hour ago, Chakotay said:

Ecoweld contact cement (aka, Rena Aquilim)

That's the first I've heard of this.  Source?

YinTx