Tandy Leather Factory Inc announced that it has purchased a 195,000 square foot facility from Standard Motor Products Inc (SMP) for its new corporate headquarters and central warehouse. The building is located on approximately 30 acres at 1900 SE Loop 820 in Fort Worth, Texas. The purchase price was $4.5 million. The company has entered into a credit agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. for $5.5 million to finance the purchase of the property and anticipated improvements.
Chief Executive Officer and President, Ron Morgan, commented, "We believe this purchase is a big step forward in managing our central operations more efficiently. Having all of our support units (warehouse, factory, advertising, accounting, etc.) in one building, rather than divided up between four as we do now in our current facility, makes a lot of sense as we continue to expand our store chain. We expect to be in the new facility by the end of the first quarter of 2008."
Shannon Greene, Chief Financial Officer, commented, "There is no more available space in our current facility. This new facility is about 50% larger than our current space, which is more than we need today, but as we continue to open stores, our warehouse shipping and receiving departments, in particular, are going to need it."
"While moving is always stressful, the efficiencies we will gain by being in one building will pay off in the long run. We expect we'll spend approximately $2 million on remodel and improvements which will bring the total cost of the facility to $34 per square foot. We entertained the idea of building a facility but the $90 per square foot price tag was a deterrent."
Tandy Leather Factory Inc
marketing@alchempro.com
