Charles D. Tandy* & David L. Tandy

Inducted 1991
Posthumous

Charles Tandy was born in Brownsville, Texas to Dave L. Tandy, who ran the Hinckley-Tandy Leather Company with his friend Norton Hinckley. He was educated at the R. L. Paschal High School. In 1940 he graduated from Texas Christian University. He then spent some time at the Harvard Business School before joining the US Navy for the remainder of World War II. While in the Navy he set a record for selling war bonds.

Charles developed his small family leather business into an international corporation. He first turned it into a leathercraft company when shoe rationing in World War II almost killed the business, and later expanded into selling leather and tools to make such products as wallets. After a struggle over the company, which saw the Hinckley name dropped, the company was renamed to Tandy Corporation. In 1963, Tandy acquired the ailing RadioShack, a chain of nine retail stores in the Boston area.

Tandy died of a heart attack in his sleep, on 4 November 1978.

*Deceased Member