Home Depot has reset their electrical hand tools department, following a huge clearance of Klein Tools.
As you might have heard, Lowe’s and Klein Tools announced a new partnership earlier this year, ending a 14-year exclusivity deal that Home Depot had with the professional electrical tool brand.
Home Depot cleared out a sizable chunk of their Klein Tools selection, but is still carrying the brand’s products.
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At my local Home Depot store, I found that their hand tools section was practically split down the middle, with Klein Tool products on the left and Milwaukee Tool products on the right.
This isn’t simply remnant inventory. I visited the same store a few weeks ago, and the Klein Tools side of the display was very sparse. The display has empty pegs now, suggesting that some of the tools shown here were received with a new shipment.
At the end of the aisle, there are Klein fish tapes and conduit benders on the left, and Milwaukee fish tapes and conduit benders on the right.
Home Depot also hasn’t put the brakes on Klein Tool promotional displays either.
Here’s a Klein electrical test kit that my store has on sale as a special buy for $22.88.
Last week, I saw a different promo – a Klein electrician’s leveling kit special buy for $24.88.
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It seems that Home Depot and Klein tools remain close retail partners, despite Lowe’s now carrying the brand as well.
This isn’t much of a surprise, as Klein informed us in August that they will still have tools at Home Depot, but it’s only now that the dust has started to clear from Home Depot’s store resets. There are more Klein Tools still offered for sale at Home Depot that I had anticipated.
I have a feeling that the rivalry is going to deepen, not just between Home Depot and Lowe’s, but also between Klein and Milwaukee.
You can also still buy plenty of Klein Tools via Home Depot’s online store.
Also Read:
Lowe’s and Klein Tools Announce New Partnership!
Lowe’s is Clearing out Ideal Tools to Make Room for Klein
Home Depot Dumps Klein Tools with Huge Clearance Sale
Klein Tools’ Home Depot and Lowe’s Availability Explained
Mnoswad
I won’t buy hand tools or pliers that all have the same color handles. I need to see at a glance what’s what. So for me I won’t be buying Milwaukee for my electrical kit.
James
Yeah it’s a good point. I also try to mix/match my brands for the same reason. Milwaukee could mix things up a bit: grey/white/black in addition to red without totally breaking their branding.
I do find Milwaukee pliers (lineman/combo) and diagonal cutters to be decent value and good tools.
MM
The fact the handles all look the same hasn’t stopped me from buying mostly Knipex pliers, but I do agree that it’s nice when you can color-code your tools. That’s one thing I like about Snap-On’s “hard handle” tools like ratchets, picks, pry bars, etc. They come in a variety of bright colors so you can easily ID tools at a glance.
Eric
Knipex at least has different handle coatings. There are the smooth dipped, the rough dipped, the comfort grip, and the insulated versions. Between those and the very different handle shapes on some of the tools it can still be easy to quickly identify them by handle if you mix and match them.
Bonnie
Spray paint is handy for this.
Tom
So is a little bit of colored tape like you use to mark different wires.
Daniel Goldfarb
Falls off in the summer sweat of things
jsbson
Shrink tubing seems to hold up better
Eric
I don’t like feeling the seam with that. Plasti-dip is my preference.
T.B.
Nail polish. Won’t fade or wear off
Jim Fortuna
Same with DeWalt l Lol. Nothing worst than looking for the black edges of tape measure in a black bottomed carry all .Lol
.
Grokew
That’s something that I can’t understand. Tool bags are deep and tend to get dark inside, so why go with a dark interior? Use bright colors to maximize contrast. Something that I like about the husky bags, is the lite gray interior. Some DeWalt bags have a bright yellow interior, and there’s a model with lights, but the interior is black.
Jeremiah James McKenna
This was expressed during the contract changes. Both Klein and HD reps stated that HD will still be selling a lot of Klein tools, while Lowe’s is getting a short term exclusive deal on certain Klein tools.
Stuart
Do you have a source where it says Lowe’s has a “short term exclusive deal on certain Klein tools”?
Jeremiah McKenna
It was in their press release. At least that’s how I read it.
Stuart
No – things are not going back to how they were after this.
Klein wouldn’t have broken more than a decade of exclusivity with Home Depot for a “short term” deal with Lowe’s on “certain tools.”
George
I work in home depot electrical dept ..and my customers swear by Klein. I’m glad to see home depot is still selling Kleins biggest sellers in my store,it keeps contractors and home owners happy and we need all the foot traffic we can get in these times
Josh
Oh man those Milwaukee benders are not good. I like that Milwaukee has all these nice conveniences and innovations, but they sure can get the basics wrong.
Xira
Just in general, Milwaukee doesn’t make good hand tools. Power tools are great, but I’m staying with Klein and Greenlee for hand tools.
I really dislike the feel of Milwaukee handles and the slip-joint pliers seemingly can’t handle 1″ rigid — one jaw has the flat part on the conduit regardless of which size I try.
Their bigger tools are where Milwaukee shines. The first time you use an M18 Forcelogic knockout, you wonder why we ever accepted how terrible Greenlee’s hand-pump knockout is. Milwaukee knew to put the size AND alignment marks in nice, bright markings. None of the “tiny notch on the very edge and the size hidden amongst other information” that Greenlee did.
The M18 hand threader is pretty sweet, too, just by the fact that it will detect if it’s getting away from you and stop automatically.
But hand tools? No thanks. The torpedo level and fish tape are all I’ll buy.
Michael F
The CEO of Klein tools is still a Klein. Privately owned, headquartered in Lincolnshire, IL. Milwaukee Tool is a bit of a hybrid, as clarified by this site multiple times. Headquartered in Broomfield, WI but owned by Techtronic Industries, headquartered in Hong Kong. Unless there was a serious price or quality discrepancy between the two I’d buy Klein all day long. For disclosure, I own both Klein and Milwaukee electricians tools.
BigTimeTommy
I guess it’s nice that some guy named Klein is sitting on a yacht somewhere collecting a bunch of free money. Personally I care about tools being good quality and not overpriced. Klein quality has been in a steep decline.
Michael F
It’s not worth buying American just for the sake of it, I agree, but all of my Klein tools have been excellent.
Michael
Remember not all klien tools are made in usa Some say made in china on them. Michael
..
ITCD
I feel like you can see the Red Tax on full display here, with these offerings. The prices are hovering right around what ab equivalent Klein costs, yet Milwaukee is pretty proud of the automation they’ve brought to their manufacture. Automation tends to drive price down as you get more repeatable results which can cut QC defect rate and higher throughput, as well as reduced labor costs.
S
It’s just too bad that Klein relies on DeWalt power tools for their power tool lineup
Butch
Need a canvas tote bag for elec meter w.magnet to hang at work panel & a snap flap tokeep it safe & dry.
Ciccio
My HD has the same set up. Half Klein, half Milwaukee.
Pliers and cutters offer also less then a half of what use to be before.
And no more meters and laser temperature guns
I did also notice all the Klein screwdrivers are gone, especially the packages with the sets remaining only the multi-bit one.
I am wondering how Klein will implement the lack of sale coming from tools not sold from HD anymore, maybe online ?
Jeremiah McKenna
Only time will tell. I’m sure they’ll be back, full force in HD sooner than later, because Lowe’s doesn’t get half of the pro level foot traffic that HD does.
But as we all know, publicity is publicity, amd free publicity is always better.
Pete_M
Nothing against Milwaukee but I will take a USA made Klein tool over a China made Milwaukee tool. Though most of my electrical tools are Knipex.
I think it was a mistake by HD to shrink the Klein collection of tools.
fred
The last few Klein tools that I bought (4 and 5mm T-Handle Hex wrenches) were made in Slovenia (I think Unior is the OEM). They feel nice in the hand and were inexpensive. Klein also gets some of their product from Taiwan. So, you need to look at COO if that’s why your buying Klein. For me – I think that they produce (or source) a quality product that will get the job done – so while they might not always be my first choice – I have no qualms in buying most Klein tools.
Michael F
As someone who owns Knipex, Klein, and Milwaukee, that’s exactly how I’d rank them in terms of quality. Knipex > Klein > Milwaukee.
fred
I too own various brands of pliers and while Klein and Channellock once ranked among my favorites that was perhaps 30 to 40 years ago. Those brands seemed better with more functional offerings that what I grew up with (Crescent, Wilde, Proto, PS&W, Utica etc.)
At the turn of the century, I started buying Knipex , then also tried (a bit later) NWS. I like the feel and function of these better than my older Kleins and Channellocks. I also have specialty pliers from Japanese manufacturers (Engineer, Fujiya, Keiba, Merry, and Tsunoda) that are well-made. But I also bought some pliers from IPS (Igarashi Pryor) that while useful – don’t seem as refined.
Michael F
I also have some Engineer pliers – specifically both sizes of their screw extraction pliers – and really like them! For the price they are hard to beat.
Sasquatchelectric
I haven’t bought much Klein, having been in the electrical trade for a little over 7 years now. I broke two screwdrivers of theirs that were the heavy fifty demo ones. Replaced them with Wera and they last a lot better even with a lot more abuse.
Also I think the knipex pliers blows anything Klein makes out of the water. I can cut tapcons with my knipex linesman pliers if I want to.
Just my 2 cents
fred
Klein once was a favored screwdriver brand for me. Their handle style was like the Crescent over-molded acetate type that I grew into (replacing wood handles) in the 1960’s. But since I tried the German brands (Felo, Wera and Wiha) – I much favor my Wera drivers – with their handle syyles and tip fit more to my liking.
Jake
Lowes actually had some of their Ideal branded electrical handheld tools on clearance when I went in last week. I wondered if the intent was to make room for a different brand.
David Tusing
Well,
I still have all my original Klein tools I bought in 1985…2 long shank screw drivers…1 Phillips and 1 straight blade. Linesman and diagonal cutters. Linesman have the old red moldable slide on handles. All still in perfect working order. Had the cost cut from my first paycheck back then. Best investment ever.
Steve Giannascoli
Milwaukee makes good tools but Klein is better. I have the same tools made by both companies and you can feel the difference.
No-Name
Funny, you state that Home Depot had an exclusivity agreement for the past 14 years. How is it that suppliers like EECOL Electric sold their products before, and after my 10+ year tenure there during your claimed timeline?
An exclusivity agreement means that the products in question can ONLY be sold by that company. EECOL, and other such distributors did not buy them through Home Depot, that I can guarantee.
Everybody posting “articles” these days without actually reporting on the facts or the specifying what they are talking about. Bevause of this, I stopped reading at the beginning of your article, because it put into question the worthiness of reading the rest.
Stuart
EECOL isn’t a home center, home improvement retailer, or direct Home Depot competitor.
In the context of Klein partnering with Home Depot and leaving Lowe’s in 2009, coming back in 2023 under a new partnership, and giving up retail space at Home Depot, where does EECOL fit in?
Here’s a recent Home Depot PR It says:
I found the original PR in my inbox. Here are some excerpts:
So… yeah. I make it a point to know what I’m talking about, and I fact-check when uncertain.
James H Lukehart
I’m a retired Electrician IBEW SINCE 1980. Why Klein? I buy American , an old Journeyman told me “I never built a Japanese, Korean or Chinese factory.” Back in 1982 I bought a Klein wrench but found out it was made in Japan. I sent it back to Klein. I told him I could get the same wrench for 1/2 made in Japan! I got a ten dollar bill in the mail from one of the Kleins. He told me it was the best made. Bullshit I buy American. I still buy Klein but only if made in the USA. Like Channel Lock made in the USA! I was told by Milwaukee tool Salesman that Milwaukee has built a factory in the USA and labels their tools Made In The USA. Which I verified at Home Depot I still do volunteer work and work with young people wanting a trade. And I make sure everyone I talk with gets my made in the USA speech. Why would an American Construction Worker buy anything else but MADE IN THE USA!