FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug 14, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Leather Factory, Inc. (AMEX:TLF) announced today that its subsidiary, Tandy Leather Company, will open four new retail stores this month. Stores will be opening within the next week in Tacoma and Seattle, Washington, and Orlando (Winter Park), Florida, and a new Omaha, Nebraska store will open by the end of the month. These stores will bring the total number of Tandy Leather stores to twenty-six.
Wray Thompson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Leather Factory, Inc. commented, "These four stores will complete our planned store openings for 2003. We planned these openings so that the stores should be up and running for the upcoming holiday shopping season. Larry Reikena will be managing the Tacoma store. He has 28 years of experience managing former Tandy stores in the Northwest. Judi Hixson will be managing the Orlando store. Judi has been training in our Oklahoma City store under one of the strongest managers in our system and is well prepared to run her own store. Our Seattle store will be run by Dennis Glover. He has managed leathercraft stores for over ten years, including the last two years at our Leather Factory store in Springfield, Mo. Jerry Krittenbrink will run the Omaha store. He's a Tandy veteran with 37 years of experience in store management."
The Leather Factory, Inc., (http://www.leatherfactory.com), headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is an international marketer and wholesale distributor of a broad product line including leather, leatherworking tools, buckles and adornments for belts, leather dyes and finishes, shoe repair supplies, saddle and tack hardware, and do-it-yourself kits, and is a manufacturer and distributor of fancy hat trims, leather lacing and kits. The Company distributes its products through sales and distribution units located throughout the U.S. and Canada and through its subsidiary, Tandy Leather Company, via retail stores and mail/telephone/Web site orders (http://www.tandyleather.com). Its common stock trades on the American Stock Exchange with the symbol "TLF."
This news release may contain forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements made here or in other news releases issued by The Leather Factory, Inc. are based on current expectations as of the date of the release. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the results of The Leather Factory, Inc. to differ materially from management's current expectations. Many of these risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in TLF's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and the most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q. In addition, investors should be aware that there are business risks associated with opening a new line of retail stores. These risks include the possibility that stores will not be economically successful or that economic conditions will impede their profitability.
SOURCE: The Leather Factory, Inc.
The Leather Factory, Inc. Wray Thompson,
817-496-4414 or Shannon L. Greene
sgreene@leatherfactory.com
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Tandy Leather Factory, Inc.'s business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report or Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year.
