Tandy Leather Factory

Origin

Tandy Leather began as a family-owned leather goods company based in Fort Worth, Texas in 1919. Norton Hinckley and Dave L. Tandy partnered to start the Hinckley-Tandy Leather Company and concentrated their efforts on selling sole leather and other supplies to shoe repair dealers in Texas. During World War II, civilian leather rationing prompted the company to move towards leatherworking as a hobby, which gave the company supply priority by providing for the armed forces.

Tandy's son, Charles joined the business after returning from the war in 1948. He had been tracking the growth of leathercraft through correspondence with his father and wanted to put more focus on this industry. Among his first moves was the opening of the first two retail stores in 1950 specializing exclusively in leathercraft. Norton Hinckley did not agree with the transition and the founders came to an agreement where the company split and Hinckley would continue in the shoe findings industry.

Tandy Leather relied heavily on its formula of mail order sales, however the venture made a 100 percent return on investment the first year. Tandy had $2.9 million in sales and opened 15 stores within the first two years. The following decade was filled with rapid growth through the continuous opening of new stores and the acquisition of other handicraft companies. By 1961, Tandy Leather was operating 125 stores in 105 cities of the United States and Canada and the company name was changed to Tandy Corporation. In 1963, Tandy Corporation acquired management control of the Radio Shack Corporation and, after two years, Charles Tandy had turned the company's $4 million loss into a profit. During that time of recovery, the Tandy Corporation purchased common stock until they owned 85% of the outstanding Radio Shack common stock.

In 1975, the Tandy Corporation Board of Directors announced a plan to separate Tandy's businesses into three distinct publicly held companies. The two new companies would be named Tandycrafts, Inc. and Tex Tan-Hickok, Inc. This plan was publicized as a strategy to provide intensive leadership and tailored management of the three distinct and diverse businesses of the company. With this transition, Radio Shack and Tandy Leather Company were no longer under the same corporate umbrella.

The beginning of The Leather Factory

Wray Thompson was promoted to President of Tandy Leather Company in 1976 and Dave Ferrill was promoted to the position of National Sales Manager; they oversaw 288 stores. Ron Morgan was promoted to the Eastern Divisional VP in 1977. Although they opened their 300th store that year, the popularity of Nature-Tand's products had begun to slide as reflected by their sales and profit records.

Charles Tandy died unexpectedly on November 4, 1978, at the age of 60. Concurrently, key stakeholders began to question the direction of the company and Wray Thompson resigned from his position as president.

Wray Thompson's future in the leathercraft industry was uncertain, however Ron Morgan paid Wray Thompson a visit and the two colleagues began to brainstorm; before the evening was over, they had developed an informal plan for a shared new enterprise in the leathercraft industry.

Initially three separate companies were set up:

Through Midas Leathercraft Tool Company, the partners purchased the assets of The Leather Factory in January 1985. Midas, with just over $200,000 in assets, took on a debt of just under $1.2 million for the asset purchase of the company. Two of the six managers chose not to gamble on new owners, so Wray Thompson called on former Tandy Leather Regional Manager Clyde Angus and his son, Mark, who had run the family's western store in Pennsylvania.

The Leather Factory introduced their wholesale club in 1986. Membership fees were allocated to the advertising budget which allowed the company to produce more mailing pieces and sales. By 1989, they had moved their warehouse and factory from Chattanooga to Fort Worth, Texas, and opened their twelfth location.

By 1991, The Leather Factory had acquired American Leather Company and fourteen stores were open. Wray Thompson and Ron Morgan promoted from within to free them up from day-to-day buying and selling. Jon Thompson was put in charge of operations and Mark Angus, The Leather Factory leader in sales gains and profits, was promoted to sales manager and relocated to Ft. Worth. Greg Sartor, former president of ST Leather, was hired as the craft sales manager. In 1993, The Leather Factory went public via a reverse merger on the American Stock exchange and five new Vice Presidents were named: Jon Thompson, Dave Ferrill, Mark Angus, Greg Sartor and Robin Myers Morgan.