Crescent Tools, part of Apex Tool Group, has announced a new brand identity, focusing on a new tagline – “Trusted by the Trades.”
Crescent’s announcement follows a similar one by Gearwrench, also an Apex Tool Group brand. Gearwrench launched their own new brand identity in October.
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Additionally, 4 other Apex Tool Group brands will now share Crescent branding:
- Lufkin – tape measures, rules, and wheels
- Wiss – snips, scissors, shears, knives, and other such tools
- Nicholson – files and saws
- H.K. Porter – bolt cutters
The brands will be known as Crescent/Lufkin, Crescent/Wiss, Crescent/Nicholson, and Crescent/H.K. Porter. The addition of these 4 brands will greatly boost Crescent Tools’ product selection. Press materials say:
This expansion will give our customers a wider selection of quality products from which to choose, all under the Crescent name.
Why?
Press materials are calling this a major expansion, and it does look to be just that. They also said that:
A substantial marketing initiative for the brand is planned for 2018, including a comprehensive multi‑media advertising campaign and a potential partnership with NASCAR and Chip Ganassi Racing. This investment will provide additional energy to the brand and demonstrate that Crescent is committed to continued growth.
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Hmm, an advertising campaign? Dear Crescent: You have my phone number, right?
The new logo looks modern. I don’t love it, but it could grow on me.
Going back to the WHY? part, they might be keeping the official explanation private. My gut feeling says that the heads of Crescent, Gearwrench, and Apex Tool Group’s other tool brands are looking at what’s happening, and what’s to come. Dewalt and Milwaukee hand tools line the shelves at Home Depot, and Craftsman tools are coming to Lowes.
If Crescent and their new sub-brands are losing market share in retail spaces, professional spaces, and industrial spaces, then this could be a pivotal move for them to start reversing that.
On the surface, this looks to be a marketing shift, but I’d like to believe that there will be new tools coming down the pipeline as well. Time will tell.
Are they packaging brands together for growth, or a sale? In this day and age, anything is possible. While it would be unexpected at the moment, it wouldn’t be outrageous for a larger tool brand to want to snatch up Crescent Tools and their new sub-brands.
Kenneth Richard
I see it as a great move to strengthen their name. I’ve noticed all the Hilton brands now say “Hampton by Hilton” “Doubletree by Hilton”. I would view this much the same way.
Allows them to have one unified brand identity for marketing and in store presentation but still hit the industry specific guys looking for a Wiss snip or Lufkin tape.
In the future it allows them to consolidate if they need to. Apex has a good portfolio but it’s not very unified. We saw it in the auto industry as Mercury, Pontiac, Saturn, Oldsmobile, etc. dropped off to create stronger core brands.
Eric
Sounds like the death knell for some long time, classic brands…
Stuart
Not necessarily.
Having them under one brand might help with marketing efforts and brand recognition.
It’s really too soon to tell.
Keep in mind that Apex Tool Group will eliminate brand names without much warning. If that’s what they wanted to do here, they could have. Reminder: https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/apex-tool-group-cuts-armstrong-and-allen-tool-brands/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Mike McFalls
Stuart,
We Might need you to venture down the rabbits hole and update this posting with the affiliations
https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/tool-brands-corporate-affiliations/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Stuart
I crossed out Allen and Armstrong, but I don’t know how I feel about making other changes.
All these brands are owned by Apex Tool Group, so it would at most be a reordering of brand names within ATG.
I’ve tried to be good about updating that post.
There are some changes I haven’t added yet. Senco was bought by Kyocera, but that doesn’t seem to warrant its own listing. They also bought Ryobi, but only their Asia operations. Their USA operations have always been separate, and any discussion of that might lead to confusion.
fred
My take is that Senco had been struggling for some time to compete. Maybe Wynchurch Capital thought it was time to sell. Kyocera’s acquisition seems a bit odd – but maybe they got a bargain price – or with the acquisition of Ryobi (Asia) Kyocera plans to enter the power tool business. Of course Kyocera’s SGS carbide tooling is well known in the metalworking business – but this sort of tool is not something you buy at Home Depot.
Tool of the trade
I agree. I just hope that they opt to keep the USA made brands in Sumter and stay out of China. I’m sure they have lost some market share due to Chinese production and the fact that the adjustable wrench is one of the worst tools ever invented. Nobody can make the mechanism tight enough to where it doesn’t move every time you turn it. Their pipe wrench sux also. The vise grip adjustable wrench from Stanley is the only one I’ve ever found to be useful. Although their adjustable pry bar is awesome. They better not ruin Wiss. They need to keep the Chinese away from them.
Stuart
I bought their USA-made wrenches before and after they outsourced production to Asia. They aren’t very special no matter where they’re made.
I also bought an imported model, and it seemed a little better.
Apex Tool Group has a lot of data about what tools sell well, and what doesn’t. They made tools in the USA for their own brands, and for Craftsman, and Kobalt for a while. They made and make a whole lot of tools in Taiwan and China.
If they saw an opportunity to take production overseas, they would have already done it.
Wrench & Surf
I used to work there. Keep watching… this shit show will gets lot more entertaining in the next few years. The corporate group think will for sure keep boggling minds worldwide.
Toolfreak
Yeah, this is what happens prior to removing the other brand names entirely.
Look for Lufkin, Wiss, Nicholson, and maybe even H.K. Porter to be history sometime over the next few years.
This is part of why it’s a bad things when brands get bought up under an umbrella company – they eventually get too many and need to consolidate them to simplify, and they inevitably kill the brands instead of selling them off.
Also, that Crescent logo sucks. Like, really badly. The previous one was WAY better, and there wasn’t a whole lot to it.
I get what they’re going for, but no, the Crescent stuff these days is made in China and isn’t antiquey or old timey so the logo is really pushing it.
I liked the Gearwrench rebranding, though it seemed unnecessary but not completely out there, especially if they’re planning an expansion with lots more tools under that since they missed out on buying Craftsman.
This just reeks of unnecesary stupidity. If you’re getting rid of the other brands, just say so and sure, do the dual-branded thing for awhile until customers get used to it.
fred
I don’t know what to make of this.
I wonder if this idea came from Apex or Bain Capital.
My take on the 4 brands is:
Lufkin tape measures once seemed to dominate the market but now are mostly special order items at Home Depot. You still do see their carpenter’s rulers on racks.
HK Porter cutters still get some shelf space – but we moved over to HIT and Klein some years ago because we thought they were better products. The Home Depot near me has mostly Ridgid-branded bolt cutters.
Wiss used to dominate the snips and scissors market – but others like Midwest, Malco and even Dewalt and Milwaukee seem to be taking market share.
Nicholson files still seem to get a lot of shelf space – but production has moved to Mexico.
So maybe they decided that these old brands are no longer so venerable and that Crescent has better brand recognition in the mass-market hand tool business.
Meanwhile It looks like Weller – the other mass market brand – still stays independent.
FilesAndClamps
Yup. Apex has drained most of the value out of the Nicholson and Lufkin names. Crescent is still well known, so by attaching the Crescent branding alongside Nicholson, they may be able to double dip and get business from those with loyalty to either name.
This is just another shuffle in the branding shell game. I wish their announcement had said SOMETHING about reorganizing to share some specific competency or even for some kind of efficiency. Their press releases should answer the question “how will this get better tools into prople’s hands,” and this falls short.
Patrick McIntosh
They have a new CEO, he was the man at Irwin when they amalgamated all of their brands into the Irwin brand. Brands like Vise Grip, etc disappeared and became Irwin, then after he/they realised that the complete change had lost them some market share he/they moved to joint branding ie; Irwin – Vise Grip. Just as this now is Crescent – H.K. Porter, Crescent -Lufkin, so the old brand names will most likely stay and we oldies will still call them by the names we knew them as.
Mark
Wiss has been horrible for the last few years. I’m a tin basher and have watched the decline. Snips wear out after 6 months, hardware losses up on it’s on. I’ve had to tack weld the nut on the pivot point to keep a pair of 2 week old snips working.
Switched to Milwaukee snips and I won’t be going back. 4x the life at least, have never had to adjust anything. Wiss can die a quick death.
Patrick McIntosh
Interesting comment Mark. Wiss M1, M2 & M3 are still USA made, no changes at all to the design or for that fact the quality of the product. As can happen and does happen, something can go wrong in production and create a lasting impression of poor quality even though the problem was only short lived. Wiss still have the best tooth edge design in the marketplace. When you are next ins tore compare the Wiss tooth design V any other brands design. The Wiss is the best by a country mile. I have Wiss, Stanley and Malco, I use the Stanley as a hammer and the Malco to cut anything that needs to be cut except sheet metal, that is solely the area of expertise for the Wiss.
Satch
Aside from Crescent, the other brands have largley been relegated to second tier product lines already. Crescent took a hit like Crapsman when they went overseas but kind of sorta live off their old brand lore.
The bigger disappointment for me and others was the Chinese-ing of Wiss. Wiss snips, much like Irwin Vise-Grip, were synonomous with solid, rugged, not too fancy, American made, dependable cutters. It just doesn’t seem the same when you grab one up to check it out and find the made in Asia tag on it. Nothing against Asians but I am trying to support the home team. Now if Apex were to do something akin to SBD and annohnce the return of these brands to Americsn soil then I may get a little more upbest about them. All that said the Wiss 7 inch utility shears at Home Depot sure are tempting.
Stuart
Wiss snips are still made in the USA. Even the ones in the Home Depot gift center displays.
Some of their other tools might be imported, but not their basic snips.
Satch
Stuart, I thought maybe I was misreading the labels so I looked today when I was at HD. Indeed, the yellow, green, and red snips still say made in USA. However, all their other snips, shears, and knives are made in China. The duckbill, large and small tinners, and lightweight snips are all China. I hipe the three mentioned can hold on.
Patrick McIntosh
I used to work at Apex. Those 3 and the second generation basic snips will stay USA made…. They know that if they move them offshore they will lose market share big time.
The yeti
Did anyone notice something missing in the photo. Like a crescent wrench
Satch
Yeti, after discovering Bahco adjustables over fifteen years ago, I don’t know if I could ever buy another Crescent model. The difference was substantial. Even then I am not as fond of using them as I was in my younger days.
Patrick McIntosh
Apex do two versions of Crescent Wrenches, one range made in China, which are very good products, and one range made in the USA which are also very good products. Just remember that the majority of adjustable wrenches are made overseas, in fact a hell of a lot are made by Irega in Spain, they brand for everyone.
Noah
They did a similar thing with Xcelite, as it is now “Xcelite by Weller”
Mickey
Lipstick on a Chinese pig.
CT
This is basically the same thing that happened with Irwin. Take a bunch of disparate tools and slap a common logo on them all and you’ve got a full line tool brand.