Tandy Leather Factory, Inc. (AMEX: TLF) reported yesterday that sales for the month of April were $4.7 million, up 10% from April 2007 sales of $4.3 million. Year to date sales are down 4% to $18.0 million in the current year from $18.9 million last year. Tandy’s new UK store, which opened in mid-February, reported April sales of $42,000.

Retail Leathercraft posted a 5% sales increase for April, with sales totaling $2.0 million compared to $1.9 million in April 2007. The 67 comparable stores posted a 1% same store sales gain for the month. The 5 stores opened in or after April 2007 added sales for the month of $79,000. Year-to-date sales for Retail Leathercraft are $8.3 million this year, up 1% over last year’s sales of $8.2 million. As of the end of April, same store sales were down 4% for the year.

Wholesale Leathercraft posted sales of $2.6 million for April, up 15% from April 2007 sales of $2.3 million. Within the Wholesale Leathercraft division, the wholesale stores’ same store sales were up 4% for the month while the National Account group posted a April sales gain of 113%. For the year to date, Wholesale Leathercraft sales are $9.3 million compared to $10.2 million in 2007, a loss of 9%. The comparable wholesale stores posted an 8% sales decline for the year, while National Accounts reported a 10% sales loss. Mid-Continent’s year-to-date sales were $210,000, down 20% from the same period in 2007.

Chief Executive Officer and President, Ron Morgan, commented, “Our April sales results finally give us some good news to report and that is encouraging. I am especially pleased with the wholesale side of the business given that it’s what started the weakening sales trend some 15 months ago. The sales gain in our National Accounts was primarily due to timing of orders and shipments between March and April. However, one month does not make a trend and I do not believe that the weakness in our sales, retail or wholesale, is over. We will continue to do things that encourage customers to buy our product with the dollars that they have to spend but the competition for those dollars is stiff. Managing the right balance between sales and gross profit will be a primary focus in the coming months.”

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, 72 Tandy Leather retail stores, located in 34 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."