FORT WORTH, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tandy Leather Factory, Inc. (AMEX: TLF) reported today that sales for the month of September were $4.2 million, down 2% from September 2006 sales of $4.3 million. Year to date sales are up 1% to $40.9 million in the current year from $40.3 million last year.
Retail Leathercraft posted a 4% sales increase for September, with sales totaling $1.9 million compared to $1.8 million in September 2006. The 62 comparable stores posted a 3% same store sales decline for the month. The 9 stores opened in or after September 2006 added sales for the month of $142,000. Year-to-date sales for Retail Leathercraft are $17.9 million this year, a 13% increase over sales of $15.8 million for the same period of 2006. As of the end of September, the same store sales gain for the 52 comparable stores is 2% for the year.
Wholesale Leathercraft posted sales of $2.2 million for September, down 3% from September 2006 sales of $2.3 million. Within the Wholesale Leathercraft division, the wholesale stores' same store sales were down 2% for the month while the National Account group posted a September sales decline of 25%. Mid-Continent Leather Sales added sales of $52,000 for the month. For the year to date, Wholesale Leathercraft sales are $22.1 million compared to $22.8 million in 2006, a loss of 4%. The comparable wholesale stores posted a 4% sales decline for the year and National Accounts reported a 17% sales decline. Mid-Continent's year-to-date sales were $554,000.
Chief Executive Officer and President, Ron Morgan, commented, "September is one of the two months in 2007 whose number of sales days don't match that of the same month last year. We had 24 sales days this September compared to 25 sales days in September last year. We'll pick up the extra sales day in October. One more day of sales in September would have given us a 2% consolidated sales gain instead of a 2% sales loss and the retail stores would have had a 1% same store sales gain instead of a 3% loss. Regardless, it's been another disappointing month. I've been in this business a long time and experienced business cycles, both good and bad. My instruction to the management team is to continue to focus on the things that we know will make us successful long-term."
Shannon L. Greene, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, added, "We ended the quarter with a 3% sales gain. Retail Leathercraft produced an 11% gain for the quarter, with a same store sales gain of almost 4%. Wholesale Leathercraft reported a 3% loss for the quarter, with the same stores at break-even and National Accounts down 32%. It seems that nothing has come easy for us this year and that can be frustrating. Despite all that I'm reading regarding retailers' expected dismal Christmas season, our goal is to finish the year strong."
Tandy Leather Factory, Inc., (http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com), headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is a specialty retailer and wholesale distributor of a broad product line including leather, leatherworking tools, buckles and adornments for belts, leather dyes and finishes, saddle and tack hardware, and do-it-yourself kits. The Company distributes its products through its 29 Leather Factory stores, located in 19 states and 3 Canadian provinces, 72 Tandy Leather retail stores, located in 32 states and 6 Canadian provinces, and Mid-Continent Leather Sales, one store located in Oklahoma. 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 Tandy 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 Tandy 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. Investors are reminded that past performance may not be predictive of future results.