FORT WORTH, Texas, May 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Leather Factory, Inc. (Amex: TLF) announced today that its subsidiary, Tandy Leather Company, will open retail stores in Sacramento, California, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Austin, Texas on June 1st. These new stores will increase the number of Tandy Leather stores opened in 2002 to six. The Sacramento and Salt Lake City stores are new locations; the Austin store was previously a Leather Factory distribution unit.
Wray Thompson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Leather Factory, Inc. commented, "We've accelerated our 2002 expansion plans for Tandy slightly as the store openings are going better than we expected. We have hired Freddette Dupont to manage the Sacramento store. She has over 20 years of experience managing former Tandy stores. Ross Terry will be the manager of the Salt Lake City store. He also has over 20 years of experience managing former Tandy stores."
Mr. Thompson continued, "We're excited about converting our Leather Factory store in Austin to a Tandy Leather store. That store has always attracted strong retail business. In light of Tandy's sales focus on the retail customer, we believe this move makes good business sense. Dennis Guerra is the current manager of this location and he will continue in that capacity. He was a former Tandy training manager before coming to The Leather Factory and has over 25 years of experience in the leathercraft business."
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 29 sales and distribution units located throughout the U.S. and Canada and through its subsidiary, Tandy Leather Company, via 6 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.
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SOURCE The Leather Factory, Inc.
CONTACT: Wray Thompson, +1-817-496-4414, or Shannon L. Greene,
sgreene@leatherfactory.com , both of The Leather Factory, Inc.; or
Mark Tyler of T.T. Communications, Inc., +1-845-368-4377,
for TheLeather 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.