Tandy store closings

[chuck123wapati]

3 hours ago, Frodo said:

I just sent an email to tandy and told them to pound sand

they changed the price of shipping to a straight $12.00 charge on all sales under $100.00

I was not aware of this and had a pattern in my cart.  on check out. up pops $12.00 for shipping an envelope a $0.50 stamp would take care of?

I deleted my order and sent them a grumpy email

went over to the Steckstore   bought the same exact same thing and was charged $2.00 shipping  

I hate that ! I did the same thing with a couple of other companies, to bad to see Tandy trying that it sure wont help their sales.

[Frodo]

32 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

I hate that ! I did the same thing with a couple of other companies, to bad to see Tandy trying that it sure wont help their sales.

I usually use Springfield leather  i can get a 7oz veg tan double shoulder for $45.00  from them as opposed to 

75-90 from other places.  price matters and shipping is a deal breaker 

 

I am having Springfield send me 3- goat hides  7 sq ft each   the shipping on that is only 9 bucks

1 hour ago, Studio-N said:

perhaps this is their version of a  Corona Virus surcharge. 

I hate it.   it will cut there throat. 

[Handstitched]

16 hours ago, Frodo said:

I usually use Springfield leather  i can get a 7oz veg tan double shoulder for $45.00

$45 ??????      Here in Oz, thats about $200- $250.00  , fair dinkum!! 

I hate exchange rates ....... and the huge lack of tanneries here in Oz !! 

 

HS

 

[Spyros]

4 hours ago, Handstitched said:

$45 ??????      Here in Oz, thats about $200- $250.00  , fair dinkum!! 

I hate exchange rates ....... and the huge lack of tanneries here in Oz !! 

 

HS

 

Hey mate, have you ever tried ordering leather from overseas? I've only bought from Leffler and Austanners here in VIC so far, but if there's no trouble at customs (for whatever reason) I'd like to try ordering directly from O/S.

Edited May 26, 2020 by Spyros

[garypl]

I have been ordering more thin lining leathers and oil tanned leather from Springfield and am very happy with the leather they have been shipping.  Some very nice oil tan that is very good price and gets here in 2 days.  For veg tan I have mostly been ordering direct from W&C, but am thinking about trying Herman Oak to compare with the W&C.

[Frodo]

12 hours ago, Handstitched said:

$45 ??????      Here in Oz, thats about $200- $250.00  , fair dinkum!! 

I hate exchange rates ....... and the huge lack of tanneries here in Oz !! 

 

HS

 

https://www.springfieldleather.com/international-orders

[Handstitched]

On 5/26/2020 at 11:35 PM, Spyros said:

Hey mate, have you ever tried ordering leather from overseas?

I had an account with a wholesaler in Pennsylvania,  and I bought stock when the Oz $ was reasonably  healthy, in the 90's even parity at one point , (stock arrived quicker than Oz post too at times) , but now the Oz $ is in the toilet, currently .66 . But I spent less than $1000-  for tax & customs purposes at the time,( had to go through a bit of  customs red tape once because I spent over $1000- .  Its not financially viable for me  to order from the US atm  . It would need to be in the mid 80's at least for me to consider ordering from US. I'm only a small operator and not a huge amount of $$$ to spare, especially these days, its been a bit tight.  I've only just started to go back to "normal" , ordering stock etc. from Adelaide Leather  &  Birdsalls. 

I  also have a wholesaler  in Ozzy Park, here in Perth (  agent for NSW leather) 

@Frodo Thanks for the link, when things get better here, I'll certainly consider them. No doubt they sell quality leather , people on here speak highly of them  

Thanks

HS

Edited May 28, 2020 by Handstitched

[Frodo]

I wish I could get my hands on some roo leather.  I want to make a  roo leather whip

 

 

[Handstitched]

This is one of my suppliers. 

I have no idea how much it would cost in freight to the US, but have a look here: 

https://www.birdsall-leather.com.au/Kangaroo-Skins/pl.php?resetbrand=1

HS

[jcuk]

On 5/26/2020 at 12:28 PM, Handstitched said:

$45 ??????      Here in Oz, thats about $200- $250.00  , fair dinkum!! 

I hate exchange rates ....... and the huge lack of tanneries here in Oz !! 

 

HS

 

Think you may know of this company but just in case you don't heres a link. 

https://packerdirect.com.au

I used them when i was working in the middle east good to deal wit,  got some bridle leather not as nice as english bridle leather but ok for general repairs. Also got Kangaroo hides really liked them used it to patch some saddles up super tough and hard wearing.

Hope this helps

JCUK

[Handstitched]

@jcuk Thanks for that. Yes, I have dealt with them in the past, quite good to deal with. I'm on their ' specials' mail list. They occasionally have a bit of a clean out .  They were selling a heap  of ' slightly imperfect' chrome roo skins really cheap.. I bought over a dozen black & brown  skins. Imperfect? I could hardly notice. 

 

HS

[Spyros]

On 5/30/2020 at 6:21 AM, Frodo said:

I wish I could get my hands on some roo leather.  I want to make a  roo leather whip

 

 

You should, the exchange rate is in your favour as well 

I just bought a nice veg tan roo hide from Leffler, it was AUD$226 / square meter, at the current rate that's about USD$14 / square foot if my math is not completely off

Why don't you check Leffler's website to see if they ship overseas?   these guys also have it for much cheaper, and I've bought other stuff from them before and they're easy to deal with:

https://www.austanners.com.au/kangaroo

I'm not too sure why the difference in price exactly as I havent seen it in person, but the one I bought from Leffler is very nice on both sides, I actually can't tell which side is which.

Edited June 2, 2020 by Spyros

[Tugadude]

Here is the latest from Tandy about store re-openings...

 

To Our Community,   We’re carving out a new normal at Tandy! I am excited to share that we are beginning a phased approach to safely reopen stores to the public in addition to offering contact-free curbside pickup. This will be just a few stores to start, but we expect to continue reopening locations as it becomes safe to do so.  The health and safety of our employees, customers, their families, and our communities are our highest priority. This is what we’re doing to safely welcome you back into our stores:    We’ve asked that any employee with fever or symptoms of illness stay home. We hope you will too—and that you get better soon!     Our associates will be wearing face coverings, and we’re asking our customers to wear them too.    We are practicing social distancing and ask all customers to do the same by maintaining a distance of at least six feet from others while in the store.      We are following CDC and local guidelines to sanitize high touch surfaces frequently.     All in-store classes and Open Tables remain closed, but we continue to #leathertogether in online classes and other digital resources via our Instagram and Facebook.     Depending on the store and the number of customers visiting at one time, we may need to limit the number of shoppers in the store.    As we move forward with reopening our retail locations, we will continue to assess and implement protocols as needed to keep your shopping experience safe and enjoyable.    For our customers who are not comfortable shopping in store, we are offering contact-free curbside pickup at all reopened locations and other select locations. Just call your local store to place and pay for your order in advance. Our associates will work with you to set up a pickup time and bring your order right out to your car.      We’re open all day, every day online.  For our customers that do not have an open store nearby, continue to visit us at tandyleather.com and we will deliver your order right to your home.  If you need additional assistance placing an order, call us at 877-LEATHER.     In the face of uncertainty over the duration and ongoing economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to take a closer look at the profitability of our store locations.  After which we made the difficult decision to permanently close 8 of our store locations. These are very tough decisions that have an impact on our employees, our customers, and our communities, which we do not take lightly. We are taking every precaution to ensure that Tandy Leather survives the pandemic and we continue the legacy that has been built over the last 100 years.     On behalf of the entire Tandy team, we thank you for your continued support, loyalty and patience as we all get through this challenge.  Whether it is online or in-store, we are all looking forward to seeing you again soon!

Janet Carr  CEO, Tandy Leather

Visit our website to find information about a store opening near you!  LEARN MORE

[Tugadude]

If you click on the "learn more" button you can find out which stores are open for walk-in traffic.  

[rleather]

Tandy has sent out an email with the store locations that are now open for business. The email also stated that they were closing eight location permanently, but did not disclose which stores. It looks like they are at least trying to survive. I wish them the best, I hope they make it.

[AzShooter]

Three Tandy Stores opened for traffic today in Phoenix.  They have been doing local shipping for the past two weeks.  

I went in today.  There is a limit of only 5 people in the store at one time.  They lock the door until someone leaves and then let in the next person.  

Sales people were extremely friendly and helpful.  They had a lot of stock, just about every peg was fill and leather was stacked on the tables.  I managed to pick up some pig skin lining and a few other small items.  I like it better than ordering on line and having to wait to get what I want.  I can also see what I'm getting.

[Retswerb]

I visited my local re-opened Tandy this week, seemed mostly normal operations. Mediocre selection, mediocre prices, but no wait or cost for shipping and at least you can pick your pieces out yourself.

[Spyros]

I bought some pig skin.  I got some excess (water based) glue on it, I tried to clean it by rubbing it with some water on a soft cloth and the dye rubbed off... WTF?

I bought a small punch with a set of replaceable tips, one tip made about 6-7 holes and it broke in half.  I bought their 4 prong round hole chisel, the teeth were so wobbly I couldn't get 4 straight holes no matter what.  It looks like they had retrofitted some sort of a metal guide to keep the teeth aligned, but the guide is so badly engineered that the teeth were equally wobbly with and without it. Ended up completely shearing the screw for the guide in frustration, the whole thing went straight in the rubbish bin. I bought some Eco Flo glossy finish and it smudged my project so badly it's pretty much useless now.  The instructions on the bottle was pretty much 2 lines "finish making your thing and then put our stuff on your thing". POS.

Also I must admit, I don't check prices on rivets, they are so cheap that I just ordered what I thought I might need.  I thought all rivets are the same, I mean how bad can a rivet be?  As it turns out, very bad.  Some of them you look at them funny and they bend and buckle.  

I mean all those things were cheap, I get that, you get what you pay for.  Well, its time to pay some more.  To someone else.

 

Edited July 8, 2020 by Spyros

[Alaisiagae]

They closed the Tandy store in MA, I don't see it on their website listing of stores anymore. I'm sad to see it go - it was only 20 minutes' drive from me. Now the nearest one is over 2 hours' drive away. I made an online order last week, finally got it today. They made a slip - my thonging chisel set handle says "Ivan" on it, not Craftool. Guess it's no secret who their supplier is!

I really enjoyed the classes at my local store, and the staff were pretty knowledgeable though in my opinion I think there could have been more professionalism and salesmanship. The store was pretty tiny, but was set in an old mill building, lots of character. I enter the door to the mill building and it smelled like leather as I got closer to the store. Smells so good!

Edited July 23, 2020 by Alaisiagae

[Alaisiagae]

I was wrong, the store re-opened this week. Yay! I know they're not top-of-the-line, but I'm really glad it's there.

[theleathersnob]

On 5/15/2020 at 6:42 PM, SolarLeatherMachines said:

All of the above.  But mainly a dying craft.  Tandy had tried to rectify that by letting go of older folks, and hiring younger people.  But they still focused on western leatherworkers, and almost completely ignored the cos-play and renaissance booms that were happening.  They also tried to make their pricing more transparent by eliminating the tiered pricing levels. But the wholesalers immediately shifted to other suppliers, and the retail gains weren't enough to fill the gap.  

I know a lot of folks don't like TLF, but they've served the leather industry well for a long time, and many of us got our start there.  If they leave the market, given the current trend of aging population, there's not going to be anyone big enough to fill all the gaps.  Big cities will be serviced, but the small shops will all go away.   Considering that they're still in the middle of multi-year leases in many locations, I'd be very surprised if they didn't declare a chapter 11 bankruptcy, restructure their debts (including retirements, if any) and re-open.  That's usually how this kind of story goes. 

where do you get your info from ?

[SolarLeatherMachines]

On 8/24/2020 at 6:50 PM, theleathersnob said:

where do you get your info from ?

Leather in Texas is a super small world.