Do any of you know what’s going on with Vaughan, and if they’re still open and making hammers?
Back in April 2024, there were local news reports that the plant was closing, due to Marshalltown backing out of an acquisition arrangement.
According to news reports, Marshalltown said that “the timing just wasn’t quite right” to purchase the Vaughan plant.
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In May, news reports said that Marshalltown “acquired the assets” of Vaughan.
At the time, there were rumors that Marshalltown acquired Vaughan assets after they were taken over by a bank, but there’s no public record of this – at least not that I could find.
The wording of all the news stories struck me as vague and didn’t shed much light about Marshalltown’s intent for the Vaughan brand.
4 months later, there hasn’t been a peep about the brand or its future.
I just checked, and the Vaughan Bushnell website has been taken down – all of it.
Vaughan hasn’t posted to social media.
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I emailed a Vaughan contact that I communicated with in April, and it immediately bounced back with an error message.
So… what happened? No news or updates in months, and Vaughan’s website and email server have gone dark.
Does anyone know if Vaughan’s hammer factory is still operational? Is the brand still active? What happened to the people working there?
Here’s more of the backstory:
Daniel
Recently I was in the market for a couple of new USA made pry bars and saw their website was down. 🙁 Almost emailed you about it. Ended up picking up a few Vaughan 15 inch ones at The Home Depot. I love my Vaughan hammers too.
Mike
Bushnell where that factory is located is somewhat local to my hometown. According the news stories from May the Marshalltown buyout went through.
https://www.wgem.com/2024/05/15/marshalltown-purchases-vaughan-bushnell/
Stuart
I reported on that – https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/marshalltown-vaughan-usa-hammer-maker-acquisition/%3C/a%3E .
The wording of all of the news stories and local business organization announcements was strange in that it mentioned Vaughan’s “assets.”
There hasn’t been a peep about things since May, or future intent, and Vaughan’s website and email servers were taken down at some point.
What does that mean about Vaughan’s status right now, and what does their future look like?
fred
The few items on the Internet – also seem like old news. This one from April says that the plant is closing:
https://www.mdm.com/news/top-distributor-sectors/contractor/150-year-old-vaughan-plant-closing-after-nixed-buyout/
but a month later there were reports of the factory staying open:
https://www.tspr.org/tspr-local/2024-05-15/deal-to-keep-bushnell-factory-open-today-ought-to-be-a-celebration
Nothing since then – But Google says that they are “open Now” and provides a phone number: (309) 772-2131
To quote Alice (in Wonderland): “curiouser and curiouser” – or as Rogers and Hammerstein had the king of Siam say: “it’s a puzzlement”
eddiesky
I did a Who-is and looks like July 15th was last date of the site being snapped by Wayback machine.
http://web.archive.org/web/20240715143725/https://www.vaughanmfg.com/
The domain might be suspended/held but the registration for their domain (at GoDaddy) is valid till 2028.
Hosting might have been taken down but someone could have made a referral link or such (domain is parked, new owners…), because legal and assets.
Also, if you search Marshalltown’s site for hammers… Vaughn show up
https://marshalltown.com/search?q=hammer
Perhaps Marshalltown will be the website now…
Jim Felt
I just called the number listed above and their automated system answered with “Marshalltown” and I (politely) hung up
James
Get in contact with the buyer at Menards. They will definitely have an idea of what’s going on.
JR Ramos
Try using the phone. If they don’t answer or the number is dead, maybe try telephoning Marshalltown. Or if you have reliable retail contacts that might be able to shed some light from a purchasing agent or managerial position? The website has been down for at least a couple months. Social media died a long time ago, well before any news hit. I was wondering about this a couple weeks ago and scoured various forums including GJ and nothing but residue commentary from the May announcement, which tapered off in July.
My biggest question is whether or not they can continue to use the factory without a huge investment in updating…or perhaps moving it, which seems nonsensical but stranger moves have been made. Could be that they’re just in limbo deciding how to proceed. Seems as though there have not been new products shipped or received in many months…some retailers removed listings for anything Vaughan, which seems ominous but hopefully not.
The guys at HJE might know something as well. But for me, real human beings using real telephones has *always* yielded much better result, consistently, than relying on the internet.
doneanddusted
“Try using the phone. ”
Hah. Good point.
Everyone wants to be a reporter by just using Google, no wonder it all sounds like a giant game of ‘Telephone’.
If Vaughan dies, it’s a bummer, but lacking a highly specialized niche, all manufacturing is in a grow-or-die mode. There’s a slow motion train wreck that’s been obvious for 40 years.
Randy
I’m a buyer for a hardware store and I was just at a trade show. I stopped at the Marshalltown booth and talked to the rep there and he said that Vaughan should be available for purchase from Marshalltown by hopefully the end of this month. As of now, there is nothing about Vaughan on their website though, but they did have the Vaughan hammers displayed at the show.
Stuart
Thanks! Do you know if that will be as Marshalltown-branded hammers, or Vaughan?
Randy
I didn’t ask him that, but the display had Vaughan-branded hammers so I assume they’re keeping the name.
Al
web site shows Vaughan brand prominently.
https://marshalltown.com/search?q=vaughan
Al
No pricing on the series of ball pein hammers.
https://marshalltown.com/pro-4706-hickory-handle-ball-pein-hammers
Are these Vaughan tools new listings? Looks like they are still populating pictures and availability.
Jim Felt
There are still some on Amazon and at least until recently Home Depot online as well.
Randy
You are correct. I typed in Vaughan and just saw the Barwalt tools at the top and didn’t actually look further down. I clearly didn’t look hard enough, but yeah it looks like it’s a work in progress.
Stuart
When I searched last night, the $44 “Barwalt” hammer was the ONLY thing coming up in a search.
Looking at a site-wide Google search, only 2 pages are indexed, including the Barwalt. The Vaughan listings look to have just been added.
https://www.google.com/search?q=vaughan+site%3Amarshalltown.com
Clay
Vaughan and Dasco Pro are now live on the Marshalltown website.
https://marshalltown.com/cat-1876-vaughan-tools
CMF
I would think that the Vaughan name carries some weight and recognition. If you are competing against Vaughan, then you make a Marshalltown labeled hammer. If you buyout Vaughan, common sense would dictate selling them as Vaughan. (but when has common sense worked with some brands)
TimL
Stuart, I do have an email for a Charlie Vaughan at that company in 2023 if that would help?
Stuart
I sent an email last night (to someone else) and it immediately bounced. The nature of the error suggested that all Vaughan emails are down.
Here’s the big question – following Marshalltown’s acquisition of “Vaughan’s assets”, does the Vaughan brand still exist?
TimL
Gotcha. Yeah acquisitions are weird like that, especially with brand names and quality concerns. I was looking for a dalluge 12″ nail puller (#4300) and passed up when I started looking (mid 2023) but now it seems as they are gone forever.
Joe
I have a Vaughn fibreglass framing hammer I bought something like 20 years ago.
Sometimes I think I should retire it and buy a new one.
Noooo.
Maybe that’s their long term trouble.
MattW.
Now someone needs to buy the dalluge style handed rights from them and make one you can actually buy. Years looking for a ti or reasonable weight steel smooth face dalluge hammer and no dice. I see people like Scott brown in nz get them without incident and we can’t get one in the country we’re they’re made in.
fred
I bought a few 7180’s in 2010 and gave them as Christmas gifts. I don’t recall any feedback about them one way or the other. I never swung a hammer enough to really judge – and never much liked milled-face heads for general use. My go to hammer is still an old Stanley 100-Plus.
Leo B.
Yes, Dalluge as it used to be needs to come back. The 21 oz steel hammers were an absolute beauty to swing. I don’t think there was ever a better wood handled hammer made, but I never tried the old Plumbs or Harts. Sharp claws, perfect balance, milling harder than a coffin nail, slim handle… they were the best. Very hard to find now for a non-outrageous price.
Skue
Absolutely Dalluge was the best. I never had a Plumb but i had a Hart, the claw was too fat on the hart. Dalluge was an extension of my arm. I bought many and would make glued up handles for them and give them as gifts
Daniel
I messaged Marshaltown on Facebook and asked about the website being down. Also asked if the selection of Vaughan tools would be on the Marshaltown website. Here is the response I received…..”We are working on getting all the products brought over to our website. We will announce when the items are ‘live’.
Melanie Fuller
Marshalltown did complete buyout. My dad works there still in bushell
Stuart
Thanks! I’m still waiting to hear back from Marshalltown.
Daniel
Stuart… The products are now on Marshalltowns website.
https://marshalltown.com/cat-1876-vaughan-tools