30 Facts About Tandy Corporation

Tandy Corporation was an American family-owned leather goods company based in Fort Worth, Texas, United States.

In 2000, the Tandy Corporation name was dropped and the entity became the RadioShack Corporation.

Hinckley and Tandy Corporation opened their first branch store in 1927 in Beaumont, Texas and in 1932, Dave Tandy Corporation moved the store from Beaumont to Houston, Texas.

Dave Tandy Corporation had a son, Charles David Tandy Corporation, who was drafted into the business during his early twenties.

Tandy Corporation wrote to his father from overseas suggesting that leathercraft might offer new possibilities for growing the shoe finding business since the same supplies were used widely in Navy and Army hospitals and recreation centers.

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Charles Tandy Corporation returned home from the service as a lieutenant commander in 1948 and negotiated to operate the fledgling leathercraft division himself.

Tandy Corporation had encouraged and followed the development of that venture through correspondence with his father.

From 1950 forward Tandy Corporation operated retail mail order stores supported by direct mail advertising.

Tandy Corporation began expanding by gaining new product lines; the first acquisition was with the American Handicrafts Company which featured a broad line of do-it-yourself handicraft products, two established retail stores in the New York market, and useful knowledge of school and institutional markets.

Sixteen additional retail stores were opened in 1953, and by 1955 Tandy Corporation Leather was a thriving company with leased sales sites in 75 cities across the United States.

Tandy Corporation Leather became an attractive commodity and was purchased in 1955 by the American Hide and Leather Company of Boston.

Tandy Corporation used all his resources, raised additional money, and exercised his right to purchase the 500,000 shares of stock that were included in the original settlement.

Tandy Corporation Leather was operating 125 stores in 105 cities of the United States and Canada and expansion was the name of the game.

Charles Tandy Corporation became intrigued with the potential for rapid growth that he saw in the electronics retail industry during 1962.

Tandy Corporation found RadioShack in Boston, a mail order company that had started in the twenties selling to ham operators and electronics buffs.

The number of Tandy Corporation store-fronts skyrocketed over the next five to six years by growing from 132 sites in 1969 to 269 sites in 1975.

Tandy Corporation was one of three companies that started the personal computer revolution in 1977 by introducing complete pre-assembled microcomputers instead of a kit.

Tandy Corporation attempted to monopolize software and peripheral sales by keeping technical information secret and not selling third-party products in Tandy-owned stores.

In 1982, Tandy Corporation entered into a development contract with Oklahoma-based software company, Dorsett Educational Systems, Inc, known for its 25 years pioneering educational technology.

In 1984, a sell-side analyst stated that Tandy Corporation had an "Impressive product line, magnificent distribution capability, control of the whole process from manufacturing through distribution, and a reasonably nimble management that is willing to move with the product cycle".

Tandy Corporation mandated in 1986 an IBM-like dress code for store employees.

Tandy Corporation produced software for its computers running DOS, in the form of Tandy Corporation Deskmate.

That same year, Tandy Corporation introduced the WP-2, a solid-state notebook computer that was a rebadged Citizen CBM-10WP.

Tandy Corporation even produced a line of floppy disks, and continued producing IBM PC compatibles until the end of the Intel 486 era.

In 1973, Tandy Corporation began an expansion program outside their home market of the US, opening a chain of RadioShack-style stores in Europe and Australia under the Tandy name.

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In 1986, Tandy Corporation formed its subsidiary InterTAN as separate entity though connections between them were still visible.

In 1999, the UK stores were acquired by Carphone Warehouse, as a part of an expansion strategy that saw the majority of the Tandy Corporation stores converted either to Carphone Warehouse or Tecno photographic stores.

In May 2000, the Tandy name was dropped and the official name became RadioShack Corporation.

In 1985, Tandy acquired two chains, McDuff Electronics and VideoConcepts; the latter was previously owned by Eckerd Corporation.

In 1973, Tandy Corporation launched a subsidiary company called Coppercraft Guild, which sold solid copper knickknacks and housewares through a network marketing channel.