SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report: October 20, 1998
Date of Earliest Event Reported: October 19, 1998
TANDYCRAFTS, INC.
A DELAWARE CORPORATION
1-7258 75-1475224
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(Commission File Number) (IRS Employer Identification No.)
1400 Everman Parkway
Fort Worth, Texas 76140
(817) 551-9600
ITEM 5. OTHER EVENTS
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(a) On October 19, 1998, Registrant issued a press release announcing
the opening of the first Craft Your World store.
ITEM 7. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND EXHIBITS
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(c) Exhibits.
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Exhibit
Number Description
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99 Copy of press release announcing the opening of
the first Craft Your World store.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf of the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
TANDYCRAFTS, INC.
Date: October 20, 1998 By:/s/ Michael J. Walsh
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Michael J. Walsh
President
Date: October 20, 1998 By:/s/ James D. Allen
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James D. Allen
Chief Financial Officer
For Immediate Release
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TANDYCRAFTS, INC. OPENS FIRST CRAFT YOUR WORLD STORES
FT. WORTH, Texas (October 19, 1998) -- TANDYCRAFTS, INC. (NYSE: "TAC") today
announced the opening of the first Craft Your World store, a new craft and gift
retail outlet located in a regional shopping mall in Plano, Texas (North Dallas
Area). Craft Your World represents an entirely new retail concept for
Tandycrafts and is designed to provide consumers with a broader array of unique
specialty crafts and gifts than is available in the Company's traditional Tandy
Leather stores.
"This is a unique craft and gift store where customers can either buy a gift
with handmade flavor, or buy the craft components to make the gift themselves,"
noted Michael J. Walsh, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tandycrafts,
Inc. "Customers may work on their projects, either individually or in groups in
the store. Inexperienced crafters can receive guidance from store personnel in
the completion of their project, and more experienced crafters can learn new
skills within the store's comfortable, instructional environment."
The 3,000 square-foot store offers an upscale variety of crafts and gift items
for customers of all ages. The "home decor area" features such items as picture
frames, birdhouses, wood boxes, candle holders, glassware, gourds and holiday
decorations. A wide variety of products and craft supplies are available for
personalizing or decorating projects, including paint, faux finishes, brushes,
glue, and exceptional "how to" books. The "memories area" offers a wide variety
of photo albums, rubber stamps, specialty papers, stickers, stencils, pens, and
related items. The "kids' area" features entertaining and educational products,
including wire art, three-dimensional foam kits, paper airplanes shaped like
insects, soap-making kits, artist activity sets and Sculpey ClayTM products.
Customers are encouraged to bring their children, friends, or fellow club
members to share in the crafting experiences at Craft Your World. A separate
craft party room is available for crafting parties, children's birthday events,
scouting activities and other occasions. Craft Your World will offer weekly
"make-it, take-it" workshops and demonstrations, covering subjects as painting
gourds, working with polymer clay, painting designs on glassware, rubber
stamping, decorating wood accessories and making memory albums.
"The Craft Your World concept has been designed to allow Tandycrafts to retail a
broad variety of crafts and gifts to an expanded demographic customer base,"
continued Walsh. "In particular, we expect women and inexperienced crafters to
find Craft Your World an inviting and "user-friendly" environment. With its
wider variety of product categories, Craft Your World should allow Tandycrafts
to take full advantage of valuable direct-purchasing relationships we have
developed with manufacturers during the past 24 months. This concept will also
provide valuable consumer test marketing information which will help our mail
order and wholesale divisions to quickly identify trends and develop merchandise
programs for those sales channels. We will evaluate the performance of this
concept over the next several months, after which we will determine the
concept's potential for expansion."
Tandycrafts, Inc. manufactures, distributes and/or retails products through four
distinct product-related divisions: Frames and Wall Decor, Leather and Crafts,
Office Supplies, and Novelties and Promotional. Its products are marketed and
sold through various channels, including direct-to-consumer (e.g., retail
stores, mail order, the Internet) and wholesale distribution (e.g., direct sales
force, telemarketing, outside sales representatives). The Company is
headquartered in Ft. Worth, Texas and its common stock is listed on the New York
Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "TAC".
This press release includes statements that may constitute "forward-
looking" statements, usually containing the words "believe",
"estimate", "project", "expect" or similar expressions. These
statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking
statements. Factors that would cause or contribute to such
differences include, but are not limited to, continued acceptance of
the Company's products in the marketplace, competitive factors,
dependence upon third-party vendors, and other risks detailed in the
Company's periodic report filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. By making these forward-looking statements, the Company
undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or
changes after the date of this release.
For further information, please contact:
James Allen, Chief Financial Officer at (817) 551-9600
or
R. Jerry Falkner, CFA, Investor Relations Counsel at (800) 377-9893
