Around 15 months ago, in late 2021, Porter Cable announced that they would become Tractor Supply Co’s “exclusive cordless power tool partner.”
I was told at the time that Porter Cable would be announcing new cordless power tool and accessory innovations in 2023.
It’s now January 2023, and it seems like a good time to check in on the brand.
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Porter Cable’s last Instagram post has a February 2022 date stamp, which means they haven’t posted anything to the social platform in 11 months. The same is true for their Facebook profile. The tool brand hasn’t posted to Twitter since December 2021.
Their last YouTube videos were posted in October 2021.
Porter Cable has not posted any news or press since they announced their partnership with Tractor Supply.
Looking at Tractor Supply’s website, I don’t see Porter Cable spotlighted anywhere.
Even on their power tools landing page, Porter Cable is not prominently featured, it’s listed as just another brand.
There’s no mention of their exclusive partnership on the Porter Cable brand page either.
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Wait – there are new Porter Cable products.
Porter Cable has new auto-darkening welding helmets, plus a couple of plain-looking safety glasses. Does that count?
What’s next for the brand?
John
Any updates on SK ?
Stuart
Not yet, but hopefully soon!
John+S.
Thanks brother, looking forward to it!
Gary
Love tsc but porter cable has gone to the dogs. The chuck won’t tighten to drill or impact is terrible. Own two sets and last sets
DML
The “exclusive cordless power tool partner” caption on a picture of a corded tool tells you all you need to know about the current state of the brand.
Saulac
Noticed the same thing and given that I just read the earlier post about how to use a drill, I thought it was another joke. It was a joke anyways, I guess.
MFC
Ha. Love that so much marketing is done by people that haven’t the faintest.
A-A-Ron
That’s equal parts depressing and hilarious.
Jared
Poor Porter Cable.
I had several PC cordless tools, but only a couple now – most of them I gave to my mom after upgrading. PC just didn’t keep pace and it seems like there isn’t much hope of a revival.
I still see sets for sale at Costco in Canada, but I think that’s the only place they seem to be regular stock – and they are the same tools from 10 years ago. There are some individual tools at Princess Auto – but I think those are surplus specials.
I suppose they still “live on” in Craftsman red.
Eric
I think it was pretty obvious what was going to happen when Craftsman cordless tools started coming out that were obviously just PC tools in different colors. And then there was no doubt when Craftsman started getting newer tools and PC got none at all. I think PC’s only hope would be to get a Walmart sized exclusive deal like Hart that brings in enough sales that TTI can justify having Ryobi and Hart in the same tier.
Jared
I was hoping SBD would just continue the crossover, maybe sell the new Craftsman tools under the PC label to get them into more stores. No dice. It obvious now that it’s a complete dead-end.
Potato
They are doing exactly that
Mopar4wd
So the couple local TSC stores I stop by have added more Porter Cable stuff to their tool aisle, one has it as the dominant brand (with smaller Dewalt and Makita sections) the other seems to have a even split of Porter Cable and Dewalt. So at leasst in store they did seem to do something. But still seems like a bit of a last ditch effort.
Potato
Looks like they actually do have new tools, some rebadges of the craftsman rp/Dewalt xr offerings of brushless tools – https://www.portercable.com/products/power-tools
Jared
What?!! That angle grinder IS new – and a ratchet??
That does seem like hope for the brand, but why would they do it without any publicity?
Potato
SBD seems to just release things without much hoopla for the most part. Maybe most tool users aren’t really using social media for their way of finding new tools.
Paul
TSC has vastly more stores than Lowes and HD. In some areas we service (central VA, NC and SC) often other than very local feed/seed stores TSC IS the hardware/tool store. Hand tools may not have much depth but over at Lowe’s and HD you will not find wrenches or sockets over 3/4”. TSC will even have 3/4” DRIVE sockets.
And yet…I would be doing it a favor by saying for most of them the power tool aisle is anemic at best. Most of the time you have exactly one tool choice. So you may find saw a 4/5” grinder. No choice of paddle vs slide switch. No choice of 7” concrete grinders or brand or high vs low power. They will have one grinder and typically it’s yellow. It supports the welders in the next aisle over. And trust me all farmers do a fair amount of welding.
There is a huge opportunity for TTI, SBD, and TSC here but the fact is that the power tool selection at local plumbing and electric supply houses equals TSC. So with PC being just a brand name it seems like a waste of extra plastic and inventory given todays tight supply chains.
Stuart
I wouldn’t say “vastly more stores.”
When I researched store counts in late 2021 for the partnership story, I found that TSC had ~200 more stores in the the USA than Lowe’s, and 30 fewer than Home Depot.
With respect to revenue, 2020 figures showed $10.6 B for TSC, $7.8B for Ace Hardware, $132B for Home Depot, and $89.4B for Lowe’s.
Gabino Basye
That’s a lot of revenue.
David+VandeBerg
Is there a calculable time when the competition is such that you cut your losses and move on to some other venture?
TimNotTheToolman
It’s frustrating to see brands die, but what’s more frustrating is that their parent company can’t seem to commit to a strategy. Who does Stanley Black & Decker think should be buying Porter-Cable, vs. DeWalt or Black & Decker?
And if they can’t come up with an answer, then why keep Porter-Cable around as a “zombie” brand in a way that just makes everyone sad? Particularly when so many new tools are cordless, and you’re buying into a battery ecosystem as much as you’re buying a tool.
(Or, I guess, if they wanted to make a few people happy, they could just relaunch a lot of DeWalt tools with different colored plastic.)
Stuart
https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/craftsman-dewalt-and-how-all-stanley-black-decker-tool-brands-are-relatively-positioned-2019/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
I was thinking of a 2023 update for that post, but nothing has changed – the current chart still looks the same.
Officially, Porter Cable is aimed at tradesperson and professional users at or just under the mid price point level.
OldDominionDIYer
Well in my opinion SB&D is pushing it claiming PC or Craftsman has any “professional ” grade tools! DeWalt has plenty of “Tradesmen” level entry tools they need to pull that slider to the left.
Mitherial
For a long time, Costco sold a prepackaged set of very “introductory” looking Porter Cable cordless tools in their “tools and auto stuff” aisle, which was the only place I ever saw PC except for large air-compressors at Tractor Supply, but when I went into Costco last week, they had switched to a Metabo set (IIRC).
Wesley Penn
I really miss Porter Cable. Er, well I guess I mean I miss really good Porter Cable. Back when i was learning to do all of this (vaguely waves hand in the direction of a building) “stuff” they were pretty much the best power tool brand and what a lot of the Pro’s aspired to own. The 743 Circular Saw was easily the best I had ever used, their electric planes and routers were in a class all their own, and the model 548 Bayonet Saw is literally one of the greatest power tools ever made (seriously if you ever get a chance to try one do! or watch any of the YouTube videos of guys singing their praises). And my father, a talented Finish Carpenter viewed the model 314 Trim Saw as pretty much essential to doing any kind of quality work.
Sean
Black&Decker branded cordless tools also appear to be dead man walking. Black&Decker tools use to be a default entry tool everywhere sears, home Depot, lowes, etc. Look online and all you really find is the matrix drill with lots of various attachments and a 3/8 drill.
Fyrfytr998
Meh… a lot of the PC price points align with Craftsman which are the same tool. Might as well scrap it and cut out some overhead.
Kevin
I get such a kick out of the Porter Cable check-ins. You can bet the welding mask is a contract build just donning their branding so it barely counts. Id guess it’s just doing as little as humanly possible to keep the brand from appearing completely lifeless. It’s hard the gauge what they’ll do with it. At this point in the game the namesake isn’t very marketable, that train left the station awhile ago, but it’s still a perfectly good brand to keep in the product portfolio. It’s definitely stuck in corporate limbo. It’s not good enough to justify financially stimulating it much, but it’s still a name brand and there’s no benefit to just killing it off. I also doubt it would command a price that would justify selling it either.
I guess we’ll just wait and see. If they really do deliver on introducing a new product line and have some product managers in the pipeline, I’d suspect it’s something DIY focused. Maybe the namesake could help it edge out some of the other entry level brands if it’s priced right. That’s the only place I could see it carving out a niche. I feel like it would get trampled if it was marketed to any other demographic.
Ian
Just curious, what do SBD market outside the US, as their mid-tier brand?
Potato
Stanley fatmax v20, which is the same as craftsman/Porter cable but in bright yellow.
Chris
They used to be a proud company ,power tools made in Tennessee, most of my corded tools are all PC Made in USA ,just sad that they got bought out and went to shit ,still hoping they turn it around
Rick Pierce
Need to recheck at Tractor Supply. PC has new brushless and other tools out. And they are goos
Stuart
I took a quick look online but didn’t see anything new. Porter Cable also hasn’t posted to social media in years.
Les
Hi Stuart the only thing I’ve seen new from Porter Cable in the last few years is the mid-torque impact wrench at Tractor Supply. Maybe I’m wrong but here is the link:
https://www.portercable.com/product/pccf920m1/20v-max-brushless-12-impact-wrench?tid=576281
Other than that they are selling the same old brushed tools and the brushless tools they came out with are hard to find and expensive.
I bought this brushless kit years ago off ebay from a pawn shop for $100 but it’s like $175 or more now if you can find it.
Link:
https://www.portercable.com/product/pcck619l2/20v-max-lithium-ion-brushless-drillimpact-2-kit?tid=575021
Les
Oh they also did a Porter Cable High Torque Impact as well. I think these are clones of the Craftsman and Dewalt (previous versions), but I do think they are fairly new and the only thing I’ve seen new in the Porter Cable 20V line.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/porter-cable-porter-cable-pccf940m1-1-2-in-20v-high-torque-impact-wrench-pccf940m1