It’s important to talk about tool industry news, observations, and possibilities.
Why do we talk about how Home Depot isn’t moving DXL tool boxes in stores, or how Skil doesn’t seem to be selling many of their cordless Flip Drills?
ToughBuilt hand tools seem to have disappeared from Lowe’s stores, and they don’t have any holiday deals or specials this year.
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Klein and Home Depot broke their exclusivity arrangement less than 2 years ago. Since then, Klein has permeated the tool aisles at Lowe’s, and they just launched a line of plumbing tools there.
Vaughan (hammers) was pushed to the brink of closing, and then acquired by the company that had reneged on their deal.
Malco abandoned their production of USA-made Eagle Grip locking pliers. At the start, I think the pricing was a bit high and would be difficult to justify. I got weird requests from a 3rd party marketing firm and tried to bring it up to the sales and marketing director that I had a couple of very enjoyable conversations with. I discovered that they had just left the company after nearly 22 years.
Earlier this year, Malco (HVAC and sheet metal tools) was purchased by a private equity firm.
According to news reports, Gearwrench and Crescent’s parent company, owned by an investment firm, had to restructure their debt last year.
Ox Tools acquired Bora and Armor Tools, and you can be sure that they’re trying to get new contracts Lowe’s. (And if not, they should be.)
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Great Star has been doing nothing with SK Tools.
There is a whole world of things going on that have implications for tool availability, pricing, and future developments.
After Sears sold the Craftsman brand to Stanley Black & Decker and practically dropped off the face of the Earth, what happened to some of their tool brand partners?
Apex Tool Group shut down USA production and killed the Armstrong brand.
Ideal closed Pratt Read and Western Forge.
Tool box maker International went out of business.
Tool box maker Waterloo complained to the ITC, resulting in massive tariffs on imported tool boxes – that’s why you can rarely find smaller rolling tool cabinets anymore – and was then acquired by Stanley Black & Decker.
Craftsman was unable to successfully launch a new USA factory for the production of hand tools. Stanley Black & Decker sued equipment supplier Ajax-CECO in 2023, with both parties filing for dismissal in mid-2024.
Here is an excerpt from the complaint:
As a result of Ajax’s continuing, aggravated refusal to perform under the Agreement, SBD has suffered significant additional harm as well. Without operational Tooling, SBD was left unable to meet production schedules and commitments, or complete and ship sufficient wrenches, ratchets, and other products to fulfill its obligations to retailers and other customers. These retailers canceled their orders for SBD’s hand-tools, and SBD was left without a viable market for the tools it had planned to manufacture and sell from its Fort Worth facility.
Eventually, in March 2023, SBD announced the closure of the Fort Worth manufacturing facility.
The suit was seeking to recover $3,785,082 in funds paid towards flawed, faulty, and delayed equipment needed for the production of hand tools at the Fort Worth, Texas facility.
$3.8 million is a lot of money, but I think this is the big takeaway: retailers canceled their orders for SBD’s hand-tools, and SBD was left without a viable market for the tools it had planned to manufacture and sell from its Fort Worth facility.
With the Fort Worth plant plans abandoned, and everything presumably sold off and settled by now, what are the chances that we’ll be seeing USA-made Craftsman hand tools anytime soon?
Makita made changes to tool kit battery inclusions, increased prices, cut jobs, introduced e-rebate promotion, and this year they again had few Black Friday and holiday deals. Looking at their financial disclosures provides clues as to why.
Milwaukee electrical tools are taking over the aisles at Home Depot. Klein electrical tools have taken over the aisles at Lowe’s.
Remember Southwire? What happened to their hand tools after they exited Lowe’s? Ideal was next to be pushed out of Lowe’s, but they’re not giving up and are making some smart brand-building decisions.
When do you think Milwaukee Tool will announced their next USA hand tool expansion?
A tool brand is getting ready to launch a new product, but I don’t think they’ve paved the road well – I think it’s going to sink into the mud.
Gears keep turning behind the scenes, there’s constant motion.
Makita MakTrak shipping ETAs at independent retailers keep getting pushed back. I’ve heard rumors on social media that they’re working out some issues with stacking fitment. Home Depot has been selling through an initial shipment online. None of this is a big deal. Delays happen.
How many tool boxes has Makita built in the USA before? Who are they even partnering with here, and have they produced stacking tool boxes before?
There’s nothing to worry about. Until there’s something to worry about, but I’m not worried. Mostly not worried.
Dewalt has a tendency to cancel products there’s no clear market for. Remember their USA-made screwdrivers? If you’re going “huh”? Exactly. They never launched at Home Depot or Lowe’s, and were only sold at online suppliers. They were decent tools, but were eventually discontinued.
Might the same happen with Dewalt DXL? No, I don’t think so. Even though they’re not selling well at Home Depot stores.
We often talk about WHAT happens in the tool industry, but paying attention to things behind the scenes can sometimes shed light on HOW and WHY.
So why talk about it? It’s interesting. The context is important for me to form better understanding of the industry.
Milwaukee Tool’s Group President was promoted to TTI CEO earlier this year. What are the implications of this? One’s initial reaction might be “who’s going to be running Milwaukee Tool now?!” If we look past just “what” this news was about, we can see the path leading to and away from it. The context then falls into place and really all it’s doing is bringing other brands – Ryobi, Hoover, etc, under Richman’s leadership. Milwaukee Tool has already been restructured for this over the past few years.
I couldn’t have predicted the promotion, but paying attention over the years helped me understand it.
I catch flack over some of these posts. Some brand contacts chastise me – “why are you talking about that?!” but others seem impressed that I can follow the clues and understand situations without things having to be spelled out.
Things happen in the tool industry that we are not privy to. But there are clues. Sometimes we can’t see what those clues are building up to, but they’re still worth talking about.
Craftsman never provided clues about why their USA tool factory was delayed. They also didn’t say much about why they were closing the factory before the first tools shipped to retailers, other than that there were unresolvable obstacles.
Personally, I thought it was because they couldn’t arrive at a low enough price point to get the tools into Lowe’s.
Apparently, there were years of 3rd party equipment delays, flaws, and defects that plagued production quality and pacing, and Craftsman eventually lost all of their retail contracts for the tools that would be produced at the factory.
They would NEVER have told me this. But thanks to digging deeper and a couple of bucks for court records, we know the truth. And, the truth isn’t too far off from what I had thought – “retailers canceled their orders for SBD’s hand-tools, and SBD was left without a viable market for the tools,” and the reasons behind that are significant.
Not all brands are as forthcoming as others. We are often on our own to discover, observe, and analyze more than just what they want to share. If behind-the-scenes tool-related contexts and observations are interesting enough to dig deeper into, or simply think about, they’re interesting enough to discuss in a post.
Besides being interesting, I seek further understanding. Sometimes that path isn’t always straight, and public discourse and contributions can help. On occasion, we hear from anonymous industry insiders that I would never hear from directly, and they fill in any blanks in the big picture.
Sure, I could “stick to the news,” but isn’t that a lot like sticking to a script? That’s marketers’ jobs, not mine. This is ToolGuyd (reads as Tool Guide), not Tool Copy/Paste Parrot Place.
James
Super interesting. And happy for you to play Sherlock!!
Stuart
I trained to be a research scientist. During my formative years I took a class on “History of the Future” and then a class (Early Modern Europe) taught by a strict Canadian professor who on Day 1 said that the study of history is not really about “what” and “when” something happened, but about “why.”
In science, data is important, but the results and conclusions are what truly matter.
Yesterday’s post is likely going to land me in hot water, and so I felt compelled to explain a bit about why I discuss and tug at some of the threads behind the scenes. It’s in my nature.
James
And that explanation makes sense!
I knew you must have had some Canadian influence somewhere along the line 😉
LGonToolGuy'd
I super appreciate these existential editorials, it lets us know you a bit more than just the snippets in the comments and your ethos in articles.
Bravo.
Luke
As good a post as any to point to when asked “why look to ToolGuyd instead of Youtuber X for tool content?”
Keep it up!
eddiesky
Excellent read! Thanks for the tracking and sleuthing. Tis’ the season for pickslips, then mergers or shutdowns.
Then there is Politics now duplicating history with “tariffs! Must have Tariffs!” … look up Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act of 1930… almost a century ago and yet… politics and climate are repeating. EVs are nothing new..they were here … a century ago and same problems: range and batteries. And then there is the dust bowl and depression. Oops off topic…
So tools are kinda the same… with PrivEq firms killing companies for quick profits or patents. And egomaniac warehouses dictating policy to pricing and inventory. And ignorant or uninformed customers will buy junk.
But man, our tools we depend on… we have to keep and pick through dead-men’s collections at auctions, yardsales and estate sales. Thinking of my dad’s SK sockets he left me… I can see why Craftsman failed… pushed hard to get into Lowes … red confused me! Wait Kobalt has lifetime, and cheaper! Then Lowes won’t take back my Craftsman 3/8″ flex head long ratchet because manager has no clue!
Yet we have Harbor Freight, Ace, and numerous foreign tools coming in…Wiha, Wera, Knipex, others… phew.
Happy Holidays to all! Hope your tool dreams come true!
Aaron SD
Great post! Lots to think about. Any predictions for the next 2-3 years? More consolidation?
How closely tied is this sector to housing construction? What are the bellwether industries?
Thanks!
Stuart
Brands will often tether sales to the housing industry.
Makita, on results for the 6-month period ending 9/30/24:
Other brands have said similar.
One has to look at whether every brand is saying the same thing at the same time to gauge whether it’s accurate or not.
SBD Q3 2024:
“Weak consumer and DIY backdrop.”
Target’s Q3 earnings per share were a little lower than expected, and the stock plummeted around 20%.
This isn’t a big quarter for cordless OPE tools. Let’s say there’s a particular brand that barely participated in holiday season sales and promotions, and their hot new releases were pushed to late-December. Once results for this end of year period are out, that brand is not going to say “we lost market share to competitors who are better positioned to offer aggressively priced promotions.”
Milwaukee has a fantastic promo on Packout right now. https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/best-milwaukee-packout-deal-holiday-2024/%3C/a%3E . If other brands’ storage sales dip, those competing brands aren’t going to say “other brands locked in customers with better products and lower pricing.”
You have to pick at clues and see if there are consistent trends.
The next 2-3 years will see continuation of cordless trends. Tariffs or the anticipation of such could influence the direction of a lot of different products and developments.
It’s difficult to make blanket predictions. It’s easier to follow threads. Ideal lost placement at Lowe’s. What are they doing? They’ve upped their marketing game and are releasing new products.
Klein is expanding further at Lowe’s. Which brands are they pushing out, aside from ToughBuilt?
We can see Ox Tools vying for Lowe’s business, but they only had a single holiday season display. That doesn’t leave me very optimistic about what 2025 will bring.
It’s not easy to make sense of all of the clues and observations. That’s part of the intent of talking about things – the comments section is close in concept to peer review or round-table discussion.
Peter in Denver
Stuart, your posts on the back story is why I keep reading your blog. Like you, I find it fascinating. We both find pleasure in the ah-ha moment when after digging around, we say: so that’s why they did that. Most often, it is the back story that contains the truth, not the marketing spin. You would make a great defense attorney.
Your last sentence was the most insightful: I am glad you stick to the facts. And truly inform you readers. Often going off script!! This reader finds it incredibly worthwhile.
ToolGuyDan
Seem to be selling *many*, not “may”, and it’s “flak”, not “flack”.
The one I’m unsure of is “Flop”. Either that’s an amusing Freudian slip, or it’s far more mean-spirited than I’ve come to expect from you.
Feel free to delete this comment after addressing it.
Stuart
Thanks! Fixed the “many.”
It’s flack, not flak – I looked it up in a few places before posting, and “flack” seems like the best fit.
Regarding Flip Drill vs Flop Drill, it was either a slip or typo.
MM
My understanding was that there are two different words here that have a bit of overlap. A “flack” is an uncommon term for a PR or advertising agent, with “flaking” (or maybe flakking?) meaning something similar to “promoting”, “stumping for” or perhaps “shilling”. “Flak” refers to anti-aircraft artillery and derives from the German terms for those weapons.
If you’re talking about receiving criticism that sounds like the military metaphor of a plane taking AA fire as opposed to you promoting a product or person, and “flack” feels like a misspelling if it is meant to refer to the former. In that context “flak” is a loanword from German, and “flack” just doesn’t seem correct.
Stuart
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/flack-versus-flak-word-origin-spelling
Flack seems like an appropriate variant of flak for when used in a figurative as opposed to literal sense.
I think that flak is technically best, but flack seems like a more appropriate or at least acceptable spelling to ensure we’re talking about criticism and not actual flak.
MM
I’m quite confident that, regardless of which spelling you use, nobody is going to conclude that actual anti-aircraft guns are being fired at you and that you are grasping and seizing the projectiles mid-flight.
Stuart
The way I’ve gotten yelled at, some brands might wish it.
JR Ramos
New in Pipeline(tm) for Spring 2025: M18 Fuel Flak Gun w/Extended Magazine
ToolGuyDan
Oooh, what a fun TIL! Thank you for sending me down the rabbit-hole on “flak” vs. “flack” vs. “FlaK”!
As to the Skil flippy-floppy drill, it’s like they say: a Freudian slip is where you say one thing, but mean your mother.
Stuart
Yesterday I had to look up the appropriate way to link together 3 quotes in a series.
You might ask “yes?”, “really”, and “it’s true?”
Normally the question mark makes a comma unnecessary. But “question?” “question” and “question” seemed weird to me.
Digging really through the depths of online gramma discussion, whereas commas go inside of quotations, this seems like an example where you can break multiple rules and i) place it outside of a quote, and ii) place it adjacent to a punctuated question.
So… “question1?”, “question2?”, “question3?”
I break all kinds of grammatical rules on a regular basis for the sake of readability, such as starting sentences with “and,” but I try to be correct as much as possible.
Damping vs dampening is the worst, because there are nuances in the context that could make one more appropriate than the other, but the “dampening” triggers some of the engineers in the audience in the same way that I’ve been conditioned to reject the phrase “deceleration.”
Michael V.
1) As an amateur history buff, I loved the part about history being about the “why” more than “when” and “who”.
2) Minor tweaks:
–Vaughan (hammers) was pushed to the bring (S/B BRINK?) of closure
–$3.8 (S/B $3.8m) is a lot of money, but I think this is the big takeaway
3) Love the add’l information you bring to backgrounds of tools. I’m not in the trades but I researched the heck out of tools, because I can’t stand crappy tools. Full Stop. My family growing up always would have the worst tools or buy the cheapest, so now I’m the worst German tools snob.
4) I’m truly thankful to you and the intelligent crowd you bring out. I’ve learned so much. Viking door lifts, who knew??! Keep it up and thanks again!
Stuart
Thanks! *fixed*
History of the Future was pretty wild, too. Facts are half the story. That’s why I fight so hard to be able to feed and grow my understanding. Anyone can tell you about new tools coming out or are on the shelves. I thoroughly enjoy exploring the “why should you care?” angle.
Sometimes I worry that I’m wasting time looking at or thinking about clues poking out from behind the curtain, but then puzzle pieces start to fall into place and I can see the bigger picture, or at least more of it.
ToolGuyDan
You might enjoy https://xkcd.com/326/ .
Jared
I enjoyed that! Thanks for the insight into Craftsman’s woes. What a debacle…
So much promise, only to shut down before it really opened. It helps explain the weird marketing and periods of silence too.
The idea held so much promise, but I highly doubt USA-made Craftsman mechanics tools will be revisited anytime soon.
Stuart
I still believe there are cost and volume considerations that they might not be able to clear.
The V-Series tools at Lowe’s this season sold extremely well, but they were priced far below fair market value. I don’t know what SBD’s next steps are.
Also, does that reopen the door for SK at Lowe’s?
S
Craftsman’s woes have some similar themes to the Lisa Frank documentary on Amazon prime. As you said, there’s always signs, but there’s rarely public acknowledgement of those issues until far later down the road.
Diego
Thanks Stuart. Your dilligence to your craft is why I have been visiting your ToolGuyd since 2012.
I have commented here or there, but stick around for review of tools and insight into the industry. I remember when craftsman was sold by Sears and followed that through your site up till the rumors, creation, and ultimate failure of the TX plant w/ plenty of commentary of each phase.
Thanks again for all your work and look forward to all the years to come.
dcoleman88
Stu – I’d like to hear more of the Craftsman backstory if you can share. I’ve held SBD responsible for the Craftsman USA failure when maybe I shouldn’t have. Do the court documents spell out which suppliers failed and how?
A W
Ditto
Stuart
They do. I’ll get on it. I knew about the lawsuit, and only discovered court documents today.
Robert
The SDB vs Ajax-CECO spat was very interesting.
Mike j
It was announced this week the site of the former Craftsman Stanley facility in Fort Worth will be the location of a new Bell Helicopter facility. They will building a new dense helicopter there.
Corey R
As a longtime reader, can I be the first to ask for some ToolGuyd Parrot Place merch?
I’d not only love the irony, but I’d be happy to throw some money at it.
Stuart
lol, I’ll consider it.
Amatts
Well done.pretty much a large is crushing home ownership and technology as well as driving skilled labor off.noting after WW2 a surplus of tool manufacturing that was largely kept going by contract work well SBD really needs to kill Craftsman off Fast Eddie pretty much destroyed the brand credibility anyway having the nerve to complain about the “low”price of the sale.
JR Ramos
This content is one of the things I enjoy most about your site, Stuart. Between career periods and a long history on the business end of selling tools, I’ve seen and learned a lot behind the scenes on several levels in the chain, but it’s always changing – always something happening. The changes and news over the last 10-12 years have been especially impactful and the details are always worth learning, imho. I know many don’t care either through their own interests or needs, or some may be younger users/newer to the markets and so this content doesn’t much matter to them, but it does have a lot of value.
Used to see more of that content over on GJ but that seems to have almost died out in recent years…sure learned a lot there. I find similar information for different tool niches and industries in other forums and I always appreciate any of the insider information (or sharing of court cases and financials, etc) that people will share. My access these days is more limited unless I go hunting for things but the remaining sources and contacts I have are helpful at times.
This information has the potential to make all of us smarter consumers (choices, dollars spent or saved, companies to support or perhaps avoid) and can also be valuable for those that are running their own businesses or making larger purchasing decisions.
Stuart
Thank you, I appreciate it!
S
Stuart,there appears to be some formatting errors in the post being less formulated and more more scatter-shot–there could also be some interpretation errors on my part, in terms of paragraphs stopping one thought for another thought to interject, only to return to the original thought.
I do like the occasional article like this. a lot of what’s in it isn’t entire-post-worthy, but each part bears significance in the current overall tool landscape.
I hope to see more from ideal, though I’ve noticed they’ve been somewhat fractured for quite a while. Many retailers seem to carry a random smattering of their items that other brands either can’t or don’t make a competing product for, but no retailer anywhere seems to carry the majority of their products as a core brand.
I ran into this about 5 years ago when they released the “Bender Boot”. All corporate news said it was released and in full production, but only started existing at any suppliers about 1 full year after that. They’re far more prevalent and available now online, but for the full year after release, only a few sales sites even acknowledged that the product existed, with many of those just showing the item as unavailable.
I’m definitely still curious about the Klein/Milwaukee electrical tool shake up. I still prefer Klein hand tools over Milwaukee, and my friends group also has much more to say about the quality of the retail locations, Lowe’s generally performing pretty low, with most preference swaying towards only going to home depot.
In many ways, I think the hardware store brands and their respective atmospheres will decide market share far more than either brands price/quality.
Which is also why I’m keeping an eye on makita– home depot doesn’t seem to be giving them much except a forgotten corner of the tool area, so I’m curious how they intend to expand market penetration in the tool storage area without the more natural visibility that the other brands have. And other than online, I don’t even know of any brick and mortar retailers outside of home depot(hardware or trade supply) that even offer retail space for Makita products.
The craftsman factory issue is making more sense now. I’m definitely curious to see where the brand goes from here, if anywhere, as it sounds like they burned a lot of contracts over the bumbled facility, which will have long lasting negative effects on future floor space negotiations.
Stuart
Posts like this are “stream of consciousness” with just a little editing. I try not to make it a habit. In this case, I woke up feeling uncertain about yesterday’s tool box post, and felt that I needed to add some clarity about the “why” that was something to even talk about.
Adding more structure or proofreading too many times get problematic. The word count explodes, things start sounding weird(er), and then the post gets backburnered until I revisit the topic and fall into the same pitfalls. It’s like polishing something physical – go a little too far and you need to start over.
Makita and Craftsman are both in very complex situations.
I used to shop at Sears a LOT, and Craftsman offered a much broader product line than Stanley Black & Decker has been able to accomplish since acquiring the brand. As a consumer, I would blame SBD for that. But looking at the broader picture, there are obstacles and constraints that hold influence over the path SBD and Craftsman can chart forward.
Years ago, Dewalt showed off new locking pliers at a media event, but they never launched in stores. A short time later, Milwaukee announced new locking pliers that debuted at Home Depot stores.
Launching a good product at a fair price is much more complicated than I ever would have thought.
TomD
This just reminded me; we have SUCH GOOD SELECTION of tools today compared to 20+ years ago. I remember having to go to Sears, or the “big NAPA” to get even slightly specialized tools (the one I remember was a crow’s foot) – now every hardware store and harbor freight and more has a tool selection to rival what Sears used to have.
Stuart
Not near me. Harbor Freight comes closest in range, but not in quality.
Johnez
The Craftsman story is ripe for some unraveling, kudos to you for digging deeper. SBD has taken major flak over not getting Fort Worth to work out, perhaps undeservedly so.
MM
Yes, this is the interesting part. Stuart mentioned that SBD would never have told him about 3rd party delays affecting Craftsman production. That’s what had me puzzled. If you are able to point out that it is not you to blame for this problem but rather a 3rd party, would you not take the opportunity to do so? I’m not asking about the “we couldn’t deliver on our promised timetable” part of the discussion, it’s obvious why SBD wouldn’t admit that, but I’m curious why they would be hesitant to admit problems with 3rd parties?
Stuart
Brands won’t discuss litigation, except to say they cannot comment about litigation. SBD has a large legal team that likely advised them on what they could, should, and should not say about what happened with the factory.
I greatly appreciated that they provided me with any info and the opportunity to ask questions at all.
Would it have helped them to publicly blame the equipment supplier? Probably not, so why air dirty laundry?
A rep for a tool box OEM contacted me, wanting to share a press release about their lawsuit against ToughBuilt. I found that to be in poor taste.
“It’s someone else’s fault, we’re gonna sue them” wouldn’t have helped anyone.
Mopar
FYI: I love the “stream of consciousness” posts.
Since you touched on both Toughbuilt and Bora/Ox, I have been wondering if they are related, especially since the Toughbuilt sawhorses seem to have all but disappeared from the stores.
Lowe’s only lists the 2 cheapest versions, and the store does not stock them.
Tractor Supply does list the C650, but it’s online only, not stocked in stores.
If you search for them on Home Depot’s website, it takes you right to the Bora sawhorses instead.
I was wondering if Ox/Bora was pushing them out, either with incentives to the retailer or maybe a little “persuasion”?
While I do have a pair of Bora Speedhorses, the Toughbuilt C650 is an excellent portable sawhorse, and a real bargain at the prices they were selling them at a few yrs ago.
Stuart
Retailers change in-store brands on occasion. There’s still a lot of junk and clutter, but Home Depot has been curating their online catalog.
Retail rivalries and arrangements are complex to understand unless an insider tells us exactly what’s going on and why.
ToughBuilt has faced challenges with respect to StackTech inventory, and now placement for their hand tools. What you mentioned about their sawhorses could be unrelated, directly related, or adjacent to everything else.
There are too many unknowns to guess. What’s going on with the sawhorses adds another brush stroke to the big picture. It’s related, we just don’t see how yet.
Ronald J Kellis
“Sure, I could “stick to the news,” but isn’t that a lot like sticking to a script? ” I disagree. This is nothing but news and I whole heartily enjoy it as a simple occasional handy homeowner user. Please keep it up. After a recent hand injury, Stopsaw was a common topic. Your reporting added to what I already knew and was a big help in explaining the issues. #1 for me $2,000 USD for a product the seller claims is produced for my benefit. Actions speak louder than words and I don’t believe him. #2 is the way Patents now work, I retired from the USPTO admin side and still saw a lot. The dirty secret is USPTO likes to keep extending patents for minor improvements because they are funded by people paying to keep their product, well, patented. And patent attorneys live off this.
Steven Phillips
Very nice. Well done.
On the Craftsman FT. Worth plant closure, I can’t imagine they would say anything publicly about their manufacturing machine supplier, when they were still partnered with them, they wouldn’t want to throw them under the bus, and after the failure was complete, they wouldn’t want to say anything publicly that would effect legal proceedings.