jsackin
Well-known member
Just heard a reliable rumor that the deal went through.
Ideal bought SK.
Jori
http://store.harryepstein.com
Ideal bought SK.
Jori
http://store.harryepstein.com
Ideal bought SK!
- Thread starter jsackin
- Start date
Indy_500
Well-known member
YAHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! 
brian90505
Well-known member
Got a lotta electrical stuff by Ideal...good quality.
shotgunfatcat
Well-known member
Can't wait for them to warranty things again, I have been patiently waiting to get things fixed.
mrholeshot
MEMBER EMERITUS
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2010
- Messages
- 8,043
Good news, There are a few S-K things I'd like to have. I really want one of the 60pc 1/4 drive sets. The people on ebay already think they are colletors items
Coach James
Well-known member
Could be good news. I just hope they keep production here.
Coach
Coach
krusty the clown
Member Emeritus
Nice. I'm hopefull that intentions are returning them to what they once were. I was hoping they'd still be around as I really like my SK tools, but I didn't want them to be bought by one of the big tool groups and turned into someones third best / econo line of tools.
Lets just hope Ideal keeps them in the US and can get them back to putting out some great product.
Lets just hope Ideal keeps them in the US and can get them back to putting out some great product.
back2class
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2009
- Messages
- 2,723
Don't count on warranty service if it does go through. That liability may go by the wayside on transfer when the lawyers get to work. I would imagine with HUGE amounts of SK tools out there (they were a mojor brand for decades) warranty is a huge expense for this company that has/had limited sales as of late.
comedyman809
Well-known member
i wonder if the name will slightly or totally change?
perhaps, SK-Ideal??
or, Ideal SK??
how about, SK, Ideal's Green tools????
perhaps, SK-Ideal??
or, Ideal SK??
how about, SK, Ideal's Green tools????
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Indy_500
Well-known member
i hope the prices go down a lil bit. Did i mention i like ratchets? 
comedyman809
Well-known member
maybe they will update their damn website too.
thesilverone
Well-known member
congrats to both parties
shotgunfatcat
Well-known member
I hate the way their website it done, fricking annoying to navigate.
i hope the prices go down a lil bit. Did i mention i like ratchets?
Personally, I hope the prices go up.
tonydanzah
Well-known member
yeah I thought their prices through tooltopia are pretty reasonable
babzog
Well-known member
If the prices drop, they'll be made overseas and quickly become just another cheapened brand. We don't need another bargain bin. What we need is a high quality, reasonably priced tool maker, which they were.
I would think to be profittable they'd have to raise prices or make things cheaper. It obviously didn't work at the levels they were operating.
I would think to be profittable they'd have to raise prices or make things cheaper. It obviously didn't work at the levels they were operating.
mooman
Well-known member
I'd be surprised if they were all brought back as union. Usually they will do a layoff (Sale)
re hire(purchase, new owner) non union. The union had a contract with SK, not the new owner.
I just went through this with my old pallet rack manufacturer here in Illinois.
re hire(purchase, new owner) non union. The union had a contract with SK, not the new owner.
I just went through this with my old pallet rack manufacturer here in Illinois.
babzog
Well-known member
woody 73
Well-known member
I could be 100% wrong,but I thought everything made by ideal is made over in China.
I'm not sure about everything, but the vast majority of Ideal tools I saw in Lowes were from China.
I'm not all that optimistic that they'll save SK's US manufacturing operations long term.
I'm also perplexed as to what their SK product positioning will be since Ideal's core business is electrical tools. Will Ideal use SK to compete with automotive (SO, MAC, MATCO) or industrial (Proto, Armstrong, etc) or consumer (Craftsman, HF etc).
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woody 73
Well-known member
Dave I was thinking along the same lines as you,I guess we must now take a wait and see approach.
Slip_Kid
Well-known member
My Ideal crimpers have always served me well.
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Stick Figure
Well-known member
screw the wait and see start emailing them now!
If they can bring the quality to what it was, keep pricing somewhere between the Craftsman, and the tool trucks, and most importantly find somewhere i can buy the damn stuff without involving a website. I'll be first in line to spend my cash.
krusty the clown
Member Emeritus
plus fix thier reputation with thier WD's and retailers, and provide a better warranty than in the past........
Stick Figure
Well-known member
Last time i tried to warranty an SK item was probably 7-8 years ago, and it was as easy as walking in the door at the local dealer. Only issues i've had since then is flaking chrome and i wasn't about to risk sending the stuff in when the company was going under. so i haven't had any real warranty issues first hand. so i'll take your word that it needs some attention as well. lol
Yep here ya go. I just emailed them with my thoughts and concerns. Let's see how big of response GJ can give them.
I hope that is the right place to send it.
http://www.idealindustries.com/about/contactus.jsp
I would hold off on all the jumping around and high-fiveing each other if Ideal purchased them.
Ideal has slowly being moving to chicom with their manufacutring and will do the same with SK.
Ideal is just another ITW (indonesia thug works) company that has not reached maturity yet.
Ideal has slowly being moving to chicom with their manufacutring and will do the same with SK.
Ideal is just another ITW (indonesia thug works) company that has not reached maturity yet.
krusty the clown
Member Emeritus
I would hold off on all the jumping around and high-fiveing each other if Ideal purchased them.
Ideal has slowly being moving to chicom with their manufacutring and will do the same with SK.
Ideal is just another ITW (indonesia thug works) company that has not reached maturity yet.
well, ideal is not owned by illinois tool works. i'm not sure if they ever made any of thier tools (from looking at thier catalog thier pliers and screwdivers appear rebranded) so hopefully this is a commitment to maintain US manufacturing (like they have done with PD and WF) since thier suppliers have forced them to sell chinese tools.
There's a lot of questions we're all waiting to see answered. Location seems to be everyone's main concern, but I'd actually break it down into a lot of questions as to where the company will fit in:
Manufacturing:
1) Continue in Chicago
2) Move the tooling to other Ideal plants
3) produce overseas
4) combination of these
Branding:
1) Ideal branded
2) SK branded
3) SK-Ideal dual branding
4) produce under other Ideal branding
5) contract manufacturer for other companies
6) combination of more than one of these
(while everyone here seems to take it for granted that SK will reemerge as a brand name, it is possible they'd choose not to because of the loss of goodwill over the last few years plus the warranty liabilities. If they keep the SK name at all they pretty much have to honour the warranty, but not if they ditch it, IMO)
Distribution:
1) Bricks and mortar tool dealers, parts stores, etc - which basically means rebuilding their distribution network that's been lost in the last few years.
2) Truck dealers, either franchised or independant.
3) Direct internet sales.
4) Third-party internet dealers (Amazon, Tooltopia, whoever)
5) try to fit the products into Ideal's distribution network
6) Combination of the above.
They will also need to consider the target market - not only in terms of automotive / industrial / consumer target markets, but also geographically whether they're going to go after any international markets.
As far as pricing, I think comments about pricing affecting manufacturing location are correct, however we may see some deals in the near future. Apart from possibly selling off old stock, they may also try lowering prices to gain market share. As long as pricing rises after that, they may be able to sustain manufacturing in the US.
They have an opportunity to remake the company, and particularly the distribution strategy. Lots of companies have trouble developing efficient distribution strategies because they don't want to undercut their existing dealers. SK may not have that problem if it wants to create an efficient distribution network, which would help them a lot in terms of being cost competitive.
Manufacturing:
1) Continue in Chicago
2) Move the tooling to other Ideal plants
3) produce overseas
4) combination of these
Branding:
1) Ideal branded
2) SK branded
3) SK-Ideal dual branding
4) produce under other Ideal branding
5) contract manufacturer for other companies
6) combination of more than one of these
(while everyone here seems to take it for granted that SK will reemerge as a brand name, it is possible they'd choose not to because of the loss of goodwill over the last few years plus the warranty liabilities. If they keep the SK name at all they pretty much have to honour the warranty, but not if they ditch it, IMO)
Distribution:
1) Bricks and mortar tool dealers, parts stores, etc - which basically means rebuilding their distribution network that's been lost in the last few years.
2) Truck dealers, either franchised or independant.
3) Direct internet sales.
4) Third-party internet dealers (Amazon, Tooltopia, whoever)
5) try to fit the products into Ideal's distribution network
6) Combination of the above.
They will also need to consider the target market - not only in terms of automotive / industrial / consumer target markets, but also geographically whether they're going to go after any international markets.
As far as pricing, I think comments about pricing affecting manufacturing location are correct, however we may see some deals in the near future. Apart from possibly selling off old stock, they may also try lowering prices to gain market share. As long as pricing rises after that, they may be able to sustain manufacturing in the US.
They have an opportunity to remake the company, and particularly the distribution strategy. Lots of companies have trouble developing efficient distribution strategies because they don't want to undercut their existing dealers. SK may not have that problem if it wants to create an efficient distribution network, which would help them a lot in terms of being cost competitive.
I did that last week no problem. Ideal re brands lots of there stuff like Blue point dues. Sow most of it probable is imported. There meters are assembled in the USA not shire of anything else.
Coach James
Well-known member
Yeah, I like paying more for stuff too.
Damn right! If I don't see an immediate 30% price increase, I'm going to say "F*** SK, I'm going to Harbor Freight!"
Coach
stroh
Well-known member
I don't know how accurate Wikipedia is but it says the sale to Ideal will be final on August 18 2010 and tools will be continued to be made in the U.S.
Jori have you heard anything more to add to this?
Jori have you heard anything more to add to this?
I don't know how accurate Wikipedia is but it says the sale to Ideal will be final on August 18 2010 and tools will be continued to be made in the U.S.
Jori have you heard anything more to add to this?
From what I've heard SK and Ideal sealed the deal. SK had been put up for auction, but as far as I know the auction has ended. I think the Aug 18 date might be when all the paperwork gets finalized. I have heard that the goal for getting SK up and running and shipping merchandise is the first of the year.
Jori