I visited my closest Lowe’s store yesterday, to see what they did with all of their new modular tool box systems.
Lowe’s carried and heavily promoted 6 different modular tool box systems over the holiday shopping season, and I doubted their ability to fit all of them into their year-round tool storage aisle.
Lowe’s gave ToughBuilt StackTech an entire single bay, which is good news for the nascent line of modular tool storage products.
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When ToughBuilt announced their new tool box and storage line just 4 months ago, one question kept coming up, with tool users and industry insiders all asking the same thing – will they pull this off?
ToughBuilt has launched two waves of StackTech tool boxes so far, and are not showing any signs of slowing down.
It’s a huge sign of confidence for Lowe’s to give ToughBuilt permanent placement in stores like this.
See Also: ToughBuilt StackTech Tool Storage System is Going to be HUGE
A wall-mounted StackTech-compatible shelf was on the opposite side of the aisle.
The next bay is half filled with Kobalt CaseStack storage products, and half with Craftsman TradeStack.
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The entire next bay is mostly filled with Craftsman VersaStack modular tool boxes and organizers, and also separate products – molded and steel tool boxes.
There were plenty of tool bags as well, featuring Dewalt’s new line, as well as a selection of Kobalt bags.
There were some Flex StackPack tool boxes up above. I found some others further down the aisle, also only in the overhead storage racks.
I spoke with a Klein manager a few weeks ago, and was told that their ModBox system would be continuously available at Lowe’s stores.
For the time being, Klein ModBox tool boxes and accessories are still available against the wall in the Lowe’s Pro section at the front of the store, where they’re flanked by Klein hand tools and what remains of their holiday season promotional displays.
What Lowe’s Tool Box Aisle Looked Like Before
Back in summer 2022, here’s how Lowe’s equipped the same 4 tool storage bays, along with a recap of what’s there now:
Bay 1 (2022): Craftsman Steel Storage
Bay 1 (2024): ToughBuilt StackTech
Bay 2 (2022): Kobalt and ToughBuilt Tool Bags
Bay 2 (2024): Kobalt CaseStack and Craftsman TradeStack
Bay 3 (2022): Craftsman VersaStack and Other Tool Boxes
Bay 3 (2024): (no change)
Bay 4 (2022): Craftsman VersaStack and Other Tool Boxes
Bay 4 (2024): Dewalt and Kobalt Tool Bags
Ken
Nice to see a bay dedicated to Toughbuilt StackTech.
Meanwhile, my local store is clearancing out a LOT of Toughbuilt items: tape measures, lasers, knives, saws, levels, screwdrivers, belts, bags, totes, workbench, roller stand, shovels, knee pads…basically everything *except* StackTech. What gives?
Aaron+S
Mine has the Flex system on an endcap labeled “clearance” for like 15-20% off
Frank D
Will have to check, if there are any changes in a couple of weeks; but my Lowes has none of that wall space. Just some low shelves in the tool aisle.
PW
Seems like the immediate loser here is Flex.
Which just seems like “typical Lowe’s” to me. New release with big fanfare, lots of puffing about their new supplier. Then no follow-through, lost interest after mere quarters. Wash, rinse, repeat. Wonder which of these systems will get the Lowe’s attention deficit disorder treatment next?
My bet’s on Klein. The bigger the initial marketing push, the faster Lowe’s seems to lose interest. Probably because they ginned up some insane KPIs internally that were never going to be met.
Chuck+Forster
With all this inventory and options, I hope there’s fierce competition by everyone to bring prices down.
chillb
I noticed that my Lowes also re-arranged, and is clearancing most of their Toughbuilt Cliptech pouches as well.
Sam Welch Forrester
My Lowe’s looks about the same (Wooster, Ohio).
Funny enough, I expected ToughBuilt to get the knife in the back most based on how their roll out for wave 2 has been, but it turns out to be Klein and Flex and I’m betting that’s because while the latter two companies did all their push on Lowe’s emails and pages, ToughBuilt wisely did everything through word of mouth on YouTube. So even with Lowe’s failing to get stuff on shelves fast enough, matched to TB’s Instagram game, they probably hear nothing but “I want the StackTech ABC cooler!”, and “When are you getting the ToughBuilt XYZ dolly I saw on TikTok?”… Pretty well played. TB turned up the customer heat on Lowe’s so they don’t have a choice, while Flex and Klein just let their word of mouth die on their basically dead social media pages (where they never answer customer questions, no less!).
PW
Marketing might be a part of it. But I think the product also stands out.
Flex seems like good quality, but they’re trying to compete with Packout by offering something similar but better at the same price point.
Klein looks like just yet another (now late) entrant to this space. Basically nothing to differentiate them.
TB is at least offering something notably unique. They seem to have really paid attention to what people are asking for feature wise.
They’re also building buzz by announcing their system plans well in advance, instead of pretending plastic tool boxes are a top secret skunk works.
Stuart
The Flex system seems designed to compete with Packout, but Packout is far better.
Its external attachment system was novel for a short time, but ToughBuilt, Dewalt, and Klein all offer better options, and I’m sure Packout accessories are in the works.
There’s some overlap between Kobalt and Flex system designs. I would have dropped CaseStack in favor of Flex, but can understand why Lowe’s seems to have dropped Flex in favor of ToughBuilt.
I’m curious if these placement decisions were made well ahead of time, or after seeing holiday season sales figures.
PW
Yeah, I didn’t mean that Flex is necessarily better than Packout IRL. But rather that seemed like the market position Flex was going for.
The external attachment system was a good idea, but not enough to move the needle.
I think the market is so saturated you have to offer a lot to win the big box floorspace war if you aren’t a TTI/SBD brand. Flex ain’t it, apparently.
TheChad
I sure like the toughbuilt. It seems it has been creeping up in price. I should have gotten my wallet out and bought it already.
JEFF
When I look inside of these storage systems they all seem to be one huge cavern with almost no way to organize the contents. What am I missing? Do you buy traditional organization systems or tool boxes and put them inside if these?
Stuart
Most modular lines have organizer cases. Some have removable dividers or totes.
What are you looking to store or organize? I’m sure there’s a solution for that.
JB
The Flex system is good only problem is they don’t have all the accessories in the store & employees are not that versed in that system. The hydraulic lids are great, real all terrain tires, but most of all the removable handle for the base tool box. Dewalt jacked their prices so high it’s ridiculous. Dewalt is very water tight & I do like that most of them have the side handles.
I also like that the Flex have a way of mounting things to the lid of the boxes.
Drew M
FYI, I got this e-mail today…
We are excited to announce MyLowe’s Rewards, a new way to save and earn rewards by shopping at Lowe’s! As a current Lowes.com account holder, you will be automatically enrolled into the new program.
I couldn’t find anything in the fine print but I suspect this ends the vet discount. It definitely ends purchase tracking.
Ken
Tough Built looks like it’s going out of business now. Nothing in stock anywhere and they just got notice of delinquency from the Nasdaq. So bummed, this is a great storage system.
Stuart
They have plenty of stock online and at stores. I was told there are full displays at all but a very small fraction of smaller stores, and confirmed this by visiting my local Lowe’s store this week.
The “delinquency notice,” after looking it up just now, is due to paperwork that has not yet been filed or published. https://ir.toughbuilt.com/press-releases/detail/167/toughbuilt-industries-announces-receipt-of-nasdaq
They are NOT going out of business.
Angie
Does anyone know when the 2024 StackTech products will be available in stores? Our stores in the Richmond VA area have very limited stock of the original products. It’s pretty frustrating that the stores can’t seem to keep an accurate inventory. The website shows they have the products available but when you get there they don’t exist and no one can tell why there’s a discrepancy.