FORT WORTH, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 5, 2004--The Leather Factory, Inc. (AMEX:TLF) announced today that its subsidiary, Tandy Leather Company, is opening a new retail store in the Minneapolis metropolitan area. The store will be located in the Town and Country Shopping Center in Bloomington, MN and is expected to be open for business by the middle of this month.
Wray Thompson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Leather Factory, Inc. commented, "This store is the first of our planned 10-12 store openings for 2004. Broderick Simons will be managing the Bloomington store. He has been training in our Columbus, Ohio Leather Factory store for more than 12 months and is ready to manage his own store."
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/website 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.
CONTACT: The Leather Factory, Inc., Fort Worth Wray Thompson, 817-496-4414 or Shannon L. Greene, 817-496-4414
sgreene@leatherfactory.com
SOURCE: The Leather Factory, Inc.
"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.