This Art Form Is Going Straight To Hell

[Handstitched]

3 hours ago, cseeger said:

They have made many positive strides in recent months.  I don't think there is any question about that.

Except Australia . Its a pity they they don't have a Tandy here in Australia, not any more, they closed it. But they were competing against other well established leather outlets , mostly in the east in NSW, South Australia, Victoria, & Queensland . 

I'm in the west, theres one outlet .........and thats it .  They supply my hides and some hardware etc, like they have been for may years, but the don't have everything. 

HS

[fredk]

Nor in the UK. or Europe. Closed all the branches, just as they were getting well known and established.

[chrisash]

O for looking back with memory days of happy days where all was right with the world, Get Real Life has changed for good

Tandy may well have been a nice friendly place to learn and maybe buy some tools in the past, but please get real , retail has changed massively in the last 40 odd years, there is no slack anymore, wages have risen meaning that every employer must earn far far more that 3 times their wages in sales profit just to break even, so in retail nothing is free anymore

Stock cost a fortune to buy, hold and transport, all those small packets on the racks selling just one or two items a week do not make money to the company

We all now buy on the internet and all of us complain about transport costs, yet give no thought to the retailer restocking shops on a regular basis and the logistic staff at HQ arranging it all plus the warehouse costs

Tandy is facing huge competition from the internet worldwide and has to compete, its shareholders are only investing or buying shares to make a PROFIT, not to be a nice place to meet and buy a 8$ stamp

Edited November 3, 2020 by chrisash

[Tugadude]

14 hours ago, cseeger said:

Well, it's a start...but they have a long way to go.  The key thing is to energize new blood.   The  ONLY business I see doing that is Tony See's Etsy platform.  That guy is knocking out of the park.  Please go go check out his Facebook group.   All young people making great stuff and having a blast.   Selling Ritza thread and Angelus is not  going to do it.   There needs to be fundamental change to the approach with this art form if it is going to survive.

I get where you're coming from.  I do.  Let's hope that they continue to evolve under this new leadership.  They've made a number of changes that give hope.

[Tugadude]

3 hours ago, chrisash said:

O for looking back with memory days of happy days where all was right with the world, Get Real Life has changed for good

Tandy may well have been a nice friendly place to learn and maybe buy some tools in the past, but please get real , retail has changed massively in the last 40 odd years, there is no slack anymore, wages have risen meaning that every employer must earn far far more that 3 times their wages in sales profit just to break even, so in retail nothing is free anymore

Stock cost a fortune to buy, hold and transport, all those small packets on the racks selling just one or two items a week do not make money to the company

We all now buy on the internet and all of us complain about transport costs, yet give no thought to the retailer restocking shops on a regular basis and the logistic staff at HQ arranging it all plus the warehouse costs

Tandy is facing huge competition from the internet worldwide and has to compete, its shareholders are only investing or buying shares to make a PROFIT, not to be a nice place to meet and buy a 8$ stamp

You hit on a lot of great points.  Times are tough for retailers.  For example, there are folks that will go to a local sporting goods retailer and try on a shoe to make sure of the fit and then they will order that same shoe off of the internet.

I'm sorry, but that is horrible.  So how are brick-and-mortar stores supposed to survive if they can't count on local business?  Is it any wonder their stock isn't as deep as it used to be?

Regarding transportation costs, you really struck a nerve because I'm in an industry dependent upon delivery at a number of different levels.  Trucking is a nightmare, both inbound freight and at the distributor level.  Finding drivers with the proper licenses, who is drug-free and shows up for work is nearly impossible it seems.  The average age of truck drivers in the U.S. is currently around 49.  The shortage of truck drivers is estimated at around 60,000 right now and expected to increase to 160,000 by 2028. 

[Spyros]

Τandy pro tools are back apparently

https://tandyleather.world/search?type=article%2Cpage%2Cproduct&q=TandyPro*+Hand*+Tools*&trk_msg=5OCU0M08F1G4R047KJ809JBRQ4&trk_contact=UB651GRD1KE45D0S4D5TKSK5OK&trk_sid=BSQ399HSTDSSHMSAHVE2BQ84BK&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2ftandyleather.world%2fsearch%3ftype%3darticle%2Cpage%2Cproduct%26q%3dTandyPro*%2bHand*%2bTools*&utm_campaign=Introducing+TandyPro®+Tools!

[Sheilajeanne]

On 11/3/2020 at 8:28 AM, Tugadude said:

Regarding transportation costs, you really struck a nerve because I'm in an industry dependent upon delivery at a number of different levels.  Trucking is a nightmare, both inbound freight and at the distributor level.  Finding drivers with the proper licenses, who is drug-free and shows up for work is nearly impossible it seems.  The average age of truck drivers in the U.S. is currently around 49.  The shortage of truck drivers is estimated at around 60,000 right now and expected to increase to 160,000 by 2028. 

Holy ****!! 

[TomBanwell]

On 10/30/2020 at 10:55 AM, cseeger said:

@JhLeatherwood --- You are spot on about Tony See.  He is singularly the bright spot in leather craft today.  I've had many conversations with him and his Facebook group are a fanatical group of fans.   Talk about creative...wow.  The guy just blows me away.

I am fortunate in that I did a trade with Tony several years ago and am now the proud owner of one of his pilot helmets. Really top-notch work.

[BriggTrim]

Hi....I've seen various posts a couple of years old on this, yet none that appeared to have any effective subtleties on driving an motor. I need to track down an motor to supplant the normal AC engine on the sewing machine. I should have the option to precisely control the speed of the motor. I've worked a little with stepper motors, yet I can't get the rpm I need for the sewing machine engine. (Around 1200 RPM). It not genuine quick, yet it appears to be quicker than the functioning scope of steppers. So is my lone other alternative a DC motor with an encoder appended? I'm not having a lot of karma looking for a little engine like this. Does anybody have any involvement in exact control of an engine cap may work for this application?

[chrisash]

Could you not use a DC to Ac converter along with a modern servo motor with or without a speed reducer, if you are relying on DC as your only power source