Ron Morgan, Chief Executive Officer and President, commented, “It's been a tough first quarter. A 1% sales gain for the quarter was well below our expectations coming into the year or what we've been used to. With the expenses associated with the twelve new stores since the first quarter of 2006, frankly, I am pleased that our earnings matched that of last year's first quarter."
"Those new expenses coupled with flat sales could have pushed us the other way. As expected, our gross profit margin improved significantly due to product mix. When we sell less leather and more hardware, tools, conchos, etc., sales tend to be softer, but gross margin improves. I expect we'll see some improvement in sales for the second quarter, although April won't show much. The motivation level in our managers is very high right now as they're all disappointed with their first quarter results.”
Tandy Leather Factory Inc
marketing@alchempro.com
