Home Depot & Klein’s Exclusive Retailer Agreement

The Home Depot (THD) and Klein Tools recently announced Home Depot to be the exclusive home improvement retailer of Klein’s hand-held tools.

Under the agreement, “…Home Depot will offer Klein’s complete line of durable, high-quality electrical tools and will be the sole home improvement retailer of all existing and future product lines.”

This explains why Lowes reduced their prices on all Klein tools several months ago, and why no Klein tools remain on the shelves.

We suspect that this agreement will not affect online stores, or retail stores that are not categorized as “home improvement” stores. Because of this, Home Depot may still have competiton, which will hopefully help keep prices low and reasonable.

The implication that Lowes can no longer carry Klein tools is somewhat of a dispapointment – we like shopping at Lowes, especially since it’s closer than the nearest Home Depot. However, that Home Depot will now carry the complete line of Klein hand tools definitely more than makes up for that.

Home Depot’s newly deepened Klein selection absolutely thrills us, mostly because we endured terrible frustration when searching for small gauge “Klein Kurve” wire strippers. After browsing in and calling most of the stores in the county, we still could not find the Klein strippers that we wanted. In the end, we purchased the Craftsman-equivalent version at Sears.

Then there are also the Klein Journeyman screwdrivers that we’ve been eager to try. After hearing about these new drivers, we would check for them, always without successm any time we found ourselves at Home Depot or Lowes.

There are definitely potential downsides to this new exclusivity agreement that may affect consumers. However, the availability of Klein’s complete hand-tool product line at Home Depot is a very, very good thing.

We’re eager to hear what you think about this, so please feel free to leave a comment about your thoughts or experiences.

Edit: It looks like Sears may be clearing their stocks of Klein tools as well. We used the online in-store inventory search for 6 products that we know our local Sears had previously carried, but it appears that they are no longer available in store.

Here is the full text from the press release:

THE HOME DEPOT AND KLEIN TOOLS ANNOUNCE EXCLUSIVE RETAILER AGREEMENT

Retailer to Offer Complete Line of Klein’s Durable, High-Quality Professional Grade Tools

ATLANTA – JUNE 17, 2009 – The Home Depot®, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, and Klein Tools®, the most preferred electrical tool brand, announced today that the retailer is now the exclusive home improvement retailer of the tool manufacturer’s hand-held electrical tools. Under the exclusive agreement, The Home Depot will offer Klein’s complete line of durable, high-quality electrical tools and will be the sole home improvement retailer of all existing and future product lines.

Klein Tools is the most preferred electrical trade tool brand in the electrical trade. According to an Electrical Construction & Maintenance Magazine study, 81 percent of electrical contractors prefer Klein over any other electrical tool brand. Klein Tools are used by electrical contractors who depend on long-lasting, quality electrical tools and accessories.

“The Home Depot is proud to partner with Klein Tools as the exclusive retailer for its electrical hand tools. The expansion of Klein Tools to our product roster significantly deepens our selection of professional-quality products to help ensure the completion of our customers’ electrical jobs,” said Bill Hamilton, merchandising vice president at The Home Depot.

In addition to the exclusive retailer announcement, The Home Depot and Klein also announced the following new product lines: fish tapes, conduit benders, electrical testers, holemaking and datacom tools. These new products along with the entire Klein Tools electrical hand tool line are available now in The Home Depot stores nationwide or online at homedepot.com (U.S. only).

“For more than 150 years, Klein has manufactured high-quality, affordable electrical hand tools. We look forward to continued growth of our brand and helping more electricians on the jobsites with our new partnership with The Home Depot,” said John McDevitt, executive vice president sales and marketing for Klein Tools.

“The Home Depot offers the Klein brand an unprecedented opportunity to reach more electricians than ever,” said Tom Klein, president of Klein Tools.