I’ve been sorting through Amazon Prime Day tool deals and found a couple of surprises, including new hand tools by Arrow.
Arrow, as you might know, historically specialized in construction-type staplers.
I also have an Arrow rivet tool. The point is, Arrow specialized in small specialty fastening tools.
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And now they have adjustable pliers for “plumbing, automotive, and household repairs.”
They also have pliers sets and a wide range of different styles and sizes.
Arrow also launched adjustable wrenches. It reminds me a bit of the Stanley MaxSteel adjustable wrench I posted about a very long time ago.
Utility knives? Sure, why not.
This one looks pretty good, too.
We know what’s going on. Arrow was bought out by GreatStar a few years ago, and now the company is leveraging the recognizable brand name to sell more hand tools.
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GreatStar bought up a bunch of tool brands over the years besides Arrow, such as Goldblatt, SK, Shop Vac, Pony, and Jorgensen. They also own DuraTech, WorkPro labels. Aside from their own brands, GreatStar makes tools for many other companies and private label brands.
While Arrow general purpose hand tools are new, the company behind them is not new to making such tools.
Although it hasn’t been confirmed, it seems that Bosch contracted with GreatStar to make at least some of their hand tools. See New Bosch Tools – Cordless Nailers, Wrenches, Pliers, More and Bosch Pliers Wrench Looks a Lot Like SK Tool’s.
This whole situation, with Arrow now having common hand tools, seems strange to me. The tools could be competitive and decent, but I’m hung up on the “Arrow” part.
Some of the tools look competitive, and others plain in a generic or standard type of way.
Tool brands make all kinds of unexpected branding decisions.
For example, Hitachi Power Tools acquired Metabo before the group was sold by Hitachi to KKR, a private investment firm. Hitachi Power Tools changed their name to HiKoki overseas and Metabo HPT here in the USA.
More than 7 years later, Metabo and Metabo HPT still have zero cross-brand compatibility and continue to confuse nearly everybody.
Arrow hand tools doesn’t seem all that strange if I force myself to look at things objectively.
Consider Milwaukee Tool. The Sawzall and power tool brand now makes everything from hand tools and storage products to workwear and jobsite safety gear. It was a bit strange when they ventured into hand tools.
Channellock launched truck racks and also levels and soon squares. Now at Lowe’s, Klein launched plumbing tools.
It looks like GreatStar took a WorkPro multi-bit screwdriver and changed things up to create an Arrow 2pc screwdriver set. In other words, this isn’t really a “lick and stick” relabeling thing; it seems that effort went into expanding the Arrow brand into the hand tool space in a thoughtful way.
Hold on – I found a very similar-looking screwdriver by Duratech. I kind of like the Duratech color scheme better, but I digress.
One of the recent Amazon free product reviews describes the situation quite perfectly:
It is a basic chinese screwdriver, but it does the job
In my opinion, GreatStar brands’ tools are typically decent. In my opinion, they – like many other companies – are well experienced at business-to-business dealings but not so much business-to-customer.
They don’t seem to build branding. Arrow, SK, WorkPro, and other tools can be easily sold at Amazon. But how will GreatStar build the brands to where customers will seek them out by name?
If you want high quality pliers, you might know to check out the Knipex. Hammers? Estwing.
Are these new Arrow tools just more entry and mid price point offerings to add to Amazon’s bloated product catalog? Or will GreatStar put effort into brand building, which is something they don’t seem to have done yet for SK?
fred
“Consider Milwaukee Tool. The Sawzall and power tool brand now makes everything from hand tools and storage products to workwear and jobsite safety gear. It was a bit strange when they ventured into hand tools.”
Stuart: your observation is correct – but the age of brands sticking to their knitting is long gone. These moves (Milwaukee’s and Great-Star Arrow) are not much different than SBD putting the Dewalt, Irwin, Lenox et.al. names on whatever they think the brand name will help with sales. The same is true for the Apex Group – that seems to want to lump most of their consumer tools under the Crescent brand. Geez – when SBD acquired Record (British plane manufacturer) they tried slapping the name on pipe wrenches made in China. SBD also diluted their flagship pneumatic toll brand Bostich – with using it for hand tools. It is sort of throw it up on the wall and see what sticks. I’m betting if the Arrow hand tools make a decent profit – we may see more. But if they sell poorly – then Great Star may just let the brand return to staplers etc.
ted
Great insight! Thanks Fred
Jason T.
The arrow pliers look very close to same build style as these SK pliers https://www.amazon.com/SK-10-Inch-Construction-Parallel-Comfortable/dp/B0CM5PZLKM/?tag=toolguyd-20&th=1
Being that it’s Great Star it makes sense. I bought the SK pliers on a previous Prime sale for a little cheaper than they are now. They seem decent quality and I have used them quite a bit. They’re not Knipex, but they are half the cost of Knipex.
I have no problem with Great Star using the Arrow name, but same tools, just pick one of their many brand names and roll with it, no need to have the same exact tool made under 5 different names.
Jared
That does not strike me as good news for tool-purchasers. Sometimes expanding the product line is a good thing – e.g. Toughbuilt and their modular tool boxes.
Other times it’s just adding branding to a whitelabel product to capitalize on the brand recognition. When that happens, it presumably generates some profits – but at the expense of the brand’s long-term reputation if consumers come to realize the name isn’t a shortcut for assessing quality anymore.
Arrow’s foray into hand tools… certainly looks like the latter. Maybe that’s unfair – these could be perfectly decent hand tools. They don’t look like premium tools though. Arrow doesn’t seem like the brand to do that either.
Wayne R.
I expect these tools will likely be okay. Not stellar, not groundbreaking but run-of-the-mill okay – just like a zillion others. Seems to me that people new to the trades will get to know Arrow as the same.
Rick
Unsurprisingly, there are plenty of glowing “Amazon Vine Customer Review of Free Product” reviews posted on Amazon to bump the ratings of their new tools.
I guess that’s just a part of what you have to do when you are trying to break into a market with plenty of competitors, but I find it hard to take those reviews seriously.
Stuart
It’s a tried and true retail launch formula at this point, and so I won’t make too many judgements there.
Fowler
When I was still doing Amazon Vine I loved leaving critical reviews of all the schlock available in the program
ColeTrain
Stuart, don’t forget about Crescent’s new rolling work cart. I recently bought into Metabo. Almost didn’t because the name is stupid. Now I am explaining what they are to people and I hate the name even more. I’m just calling it Hitachi.
fred
Metabo was a well-respected German tool manufacturer – focused more on metalworking trades than carpentry. They had a presence in the North American market – with tools like grinders. Their link-up with Hitachi made sense to position them better in the building trades arena. Hitachi wanted to get out of the small tool business, so the deal was done. I guess Hitachi did not want Metabo trading on their name. Why the combined company did not bite the bullet and standardize their battery platforms under one brand name was not made apparent to the lowly tool user. When KKR bought the whole shebang – it was also never made clear why the NA market would get Metabo and Metabo Hpt – rather than Metabo and HiKoki. It always seemed a misstep to me.
Stuart
Branding is weird like that. Nearly every other country has Dewalt 18V XR. The USA gets “20V Max.”
I heard a theory that “HiKoki” sounded too foreign.
ColeTrain
I know who Metabo is, I know who Hitachi is and I know the backstory, that’s my point of the naming being dumb. They’re entirely different tools, even both websites still tout German engineering and the other, Japanese engineering. So, to have two entirely different respected tool companies now share the same name?= Super dumb…Maybe I’m wrong, I don’t use “Metabo” tools, maybe now they’re essentially the same tool with different brandings… So, having three different brands under the same umbrella, identically made, with three different names and two different color schemes?… Super duper dumb! Hikoki is a new name, Metabo is well known on one continent. Everyone on earth, whether they have used a tool or not knows the name Hitachi. I’m sure they had reasons but I think that was literally the easiest marketing decision ever.
Stuart
Hitachi owns rights to the Hitachi name. After being sold to KKR, Hitachi Power Tools had to pay licensing fees to Hitachi for use of the name.
When you license a brand name, you’re not just paying money for the name, you have to run EVERY product or EVERY use by the licensing team. That can lead to severe restrictions that can only be lifted by changing the name away from the other company’s trademark.
A name change was necessary. I guess the idea was that Metabo HPT would be more familiar to US customers than just HPT, HiKoki, or something else.
fred
The history webpage for the company is interesting – but I’m not sure that it provides any new insight as to the naming “mess”
https://www.koki-holdings.com/corporate/history.html
You are correct in that when you license a name or a trademark – the license usually comes with restrictions and caveats that may prove onerous.
Paul
In 2021, my local home depot store had a 10 pack of Arrow brand multitool blades in a decent plastic case. i remember because i took a picture. I never saw them again.
Fowler
They still sell that online and in some stores, I ran across it while looking for an assortment the other day. On Arrow’s website it’s only $22
TomD
Milwaukee at least (as far as I know) went ahead and designed their own hand tools, and made their own enhancements and changes.
These seem to be rebranded yumcha tools.
ITCD
Their official website also displays their new hand tools (most to all currently marked “coming soon”) and apparently they’re jumping into the office with staplers and scissors as well.
The hand tool thing seems kinda silly but honestly trying to dive over into office staplers and whatnot does seem to be a good move. They also have rivet guns, of course, but I’d be more intrigued to see them try pushing themselves more as a fastening systems company and expanding that since that’s where their name was made. Not that they can’t get into hand tools or aren’t allowed to, it just seems to be the exact same thing in a different color and kinda a “huh?” moment for those who recognize the brand.
Stuart
While surprised by this move, I think it could be a good call.
Would you say you are more inclined to buy a Bostitch nailer today, or one from Dewalt?
Bostitch entered the hand tool market, and then retreated after Lowe’s moved on to another brand. They entered the cordless power tool market, and then retreated.
Bostitch still makes nailers, but I think it’s a matter of time before Dewalt eats up their market share and all that’s left are consumer goods such as staplers and pencil sharpeners.
There’s little growth opportunity for Arrow within just the fastening segment, especially as other brands gain further market share there.
Arrow has had interesting innovations and expansions in other product categories, but in my opinion lacks the brand familiarity to really thrive. Expanding into hand tools could be part of the strategy to remedy this.
There could be other strategic motivations as well.
Look at Klein. ModBox was part of Klein’s expansion into Lowe’s https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/klein-tools-at-lowes-2023/%3C/a%3E , and was followed by Klein’s entry into additional all-new product categories.
Greatstar could be vying for entry into Lowe’s, something that I thought they would do with SK. https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/theory-lowes-will-partner-with-sk-tools/%3C/a%3E But with Craftsman and now Klein on the shelves alongside Kobalt, there’s no room for brands such as ToughBuilt or SK.
Greatstar could be building up Arrow to make an eventual retail pitch to Lowe’s, or maybe also Home Depot.
Right now Crescent has tools at Home Depot. Maybe when that contract ends Greatstar can make a pitch to take their place with Arrow-branded tools.
Arrow’s hammers look competitive enough – https://www.amazon.com/Straight-Hammer-Puller-Absorbing-One-piece/dp/B0DSVR9P3F/?tag=toolguyd-20 .
Crescent and Gearwrench persist at Home Depot, but in my opinion they’re potentially replaceable.
Arrow’s category expansions are surprising, but strategic. Other brands have done similar, sometimes successfully such as with Milwaukee and Dewalt, and other times not so much, such as Stanley Black & Decker with Bostitch.
When you go to Home Depot, you’ll see Milwaukee and Dewalt utility knives. When I started ToolGuyd over 16 years ago, neither brand was in the hand tool space. Where might Arrow be 5 years from now?
Jared
That’s an interesting perspective. In the lifecycle of a company, if they’re not growing, they’re dying – so while it sounds good to suggest a company stick to it’s lane, that’s also an invitation for someone else to enter it.
When a brand enters a new market segment it seems like they’re either counting on their existing reputation to drive sales in the new sector – or planning to bring something novel to that new market (e.g. higher quality, innovative, low pricing, etc).
Just entering the new market without one of those characteristics operating as a “hook” seems like… you’re just hoping presence alone will drive sales (like fishing without bait or lure in hopes that there’s so many fish that some will bite anyway).
So what is Arrow doing? Are the tools special – or are they already a sufficiently recognizable brand that they can sell, maybe not especially good tools, but competitive ones?
It doesn’t seem to me that Arrow is like Klein – able to create excitement based on the branding. Are these tools going to be especially high-quality or good value so that Arrow’s brand profile is raised?