Tandy Leather Factory, Inc. Reports February 2009 Sales Down 2% from February 2008

Business Wire, March 05, 2009

Retail Same Store Sales Flat

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Tandy Leather Factory, Inc. (AMEX: TLF) reported today that sales for the month of February were $4.3 million, down 2% from that of February 2008. Year to date sales are down 1% to $8.8 million in the current year from $8.9 million last year.

Retail Leathercraft’s sales rose 3% to $2.2 million compared to February 2008 sales of $2.1 million. The 72 comparable stores’ sales were flat for the month compared to the same period last year. The 2 stores opened since February 2008 added February sales of $49,000. Year-to-date sales for Retail Leathercraft are $4.3 million this year, a 4% increase over sales of $4.1 million for the same period of 2008. As of the end of February, the 72 comparable stores’ sales were up almost 2% compared to sales reported for the same period in 2008.

Wholesale Leathercraft posted sales of $2.0 million for February, down 9% over February 2008 sales of $2.3 million. Within the Wholesale Leathercraft division, the wholesale centers’ sales were down 10% for the month while the National Account group’s sales were flat against February 2008. For the year to date, Wholesale Leathercraft sales are $4.1 million compared to $4.6 million in 2008, down 9%.

The UK store, which opened in February 2008 as a combination retail and wholesale store, added sales of $93,000 for the month and $197,000 for the year.

Chief Executive Officer, Ron Morgan, commented, “Our retail business continues to hold its own despite the economic news. Our wholesale business, however, continues to struggle and I expect that will be the case all year. Small businesses are really hurting in this extremely difficult economy and unfortunately, that is our primary wholesale customer.”

Shannon L. Greene, Chief Financial Officer, added, “Despite the economic news coming out of the UK, our store there continues to do well. We have been well received at the local trade shows and continue to add to our customer base daily. We are getting good results from our new website, running an 8% gain in e-commerce sales this February compared to February last year. Those sales are handled by our stores based on geographic proximity to the customer as we consider this another way to drive customer traffic to our stores via multiple sales channels.”

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, 74 Tandy Leather retail stores, located in 35 states and 5 Canadian provinces, one combination wholesale/retail store located in the United Kingdom, and Mid-Continent Leather Sales, one store located in Oklahoma. Its common stock trades on the American Stock Exchange with the symbol "TLF". To be included on Tandy Leather Factory’s email distribution list, go to http://www.b2i.us/irpass.asp?BzID=1625&to=ea&s=0.

This news release may contain statements regarding future events, occurrences, circumstances, activities, performance, outcomes and results that are considered “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results and events may differ from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to: changes in general economic conditions, negative trends in general consumer-spending levels, failure to realize the anticipated benefits of opening retail stores; availability of hides and leathers and resultant price fluctuations; change in customer preferences for our product, and other factors disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and except as required by law, we do not intend to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.