Interesting Info On Tool Brands

[Matt M PA]

Well, in my quest to repair-replace an older DeWalt drill, I wound up at HD and Lowes yesterday.

Another customer, and Lowes employee commented that Lowes no longer sells Makita or Milwaukee. The Lowes employee's comment was that "Home Depot bought 'em out". I didn't quite believe that, but I did check on-line as to what lines are owned by who...and found this link.

http://toolguyd.com/tool-brands-corporate-affiliations/

I thought it was interesting....and I was a bit surprised to see that perhaps Makita and Milwaukee do have some exclusivity agreement that Lowe's no longer offers those brands.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Interesting to see how the industry has been consolidating

 

[zendriver]

It's a great way to actually make profit.

If they all sold the same brands, they would just end up price cutting each other, just to maintain sales.

It's done that way with other things, like bedding mattresses. It might be the exact same mattress, but competing stores will use different names or models numbers, so that consumers can't price compare "apples to apples".

 

[buckwheat_la]

Did I miss the thing on Makita?

 

[KnurledNut]

This happened back in 2008, about the same time they started pushing Hitachi.

 

[6PTsocket]

Well, in my quest to repair-replace an older DeWalt drill, I wound up at HD and Lowes yesterday.

Another customer, and Lowes employee commented that Lowes no longer sells Makita or Milwaukee. The Lowes employee's comment was that "Home Depot bought 'em out". I didn't quite believe that, but I did check on-line as to what lines are owned by who...and found this link.

http://toolguyd.com/tool-brands-corporate-affiliations/

I thought it was interesting....and I was a bit surprised to see that perhaps Makita and Milwaukee do have some exclusivity agreement that Lowe's no longer offers those brands.

It seems that Lowes has just gone low end. Makita and Milwlaukee are sold in many other places. It is improbable that HD could force either to stop selling to Lowes. The two brands are not even owned by the same company. The low priced help in big box stores say all kinds of stupid stuff. Lowes pushes Porter Cable that is owned by the same company that owns DeWalt, Stanley Black and Decker.


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[67King]

It seems that Lowes has just gone low end.

One of the best descriptions I heard of Lowes and Home Depot was that Lowes is a general consumer goods store that also sells to contractors, and that Home Depot is a contractor's store that also sells to the general public. That seems pretty well aligned with what you state.

Surprised to see Milwaukee is now owned by a Chinese firm. Disappointed, too.

 

[Socket Pounder]

I didn't know SnapOn owned Bahco, explains the pricing.

 

[Matt M PA]

I too was dissappointed to see who owns Milwaukee.

During my shopping on Sunday, I wound up with a deWalt drill & impact driver set. The impact driver has three settings for speed-torque, which I liked.

I have a smaller Milwaukee drill that I like and have had for a few years...so I wasn't adverse to buying a Milwaukee tool. Milwaukee didn't seem to have what I wanted...and I too was dissappointed in knowing Milwaukee is owned by a Chinese firm.

 

[red94chev]

So Makita is independently owned? That's pretty impressive these days.

 

[LB-1911]

Surprised to see Milwaukee is now owned by a Chinese firm. Disappointed, too.

I too was dissappointed to see who owns Milwaukee.

Milwaukee was acquired by TTI in 2005, Some background on Horst Julius Pudwill one of the cofounders of TTI.

 

[dsimatt]

It seems that Lowes has just gone low end. Makita and Milwlaukee are sold in many other places. It is improbable that HD could force either to stop selling to Lowes. The two brands are not even owned by the same company. The low priced help in big box stores say all kinds of stupid stuff. Lowes pushes Porter Cable that is owned by the same company that owns DeWalt, Stanley Black and Decker.


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I very rarely go to lowes and like you say its more for homeowner projects and appliances.

HD is more contractors but has a lot better selection of what I want and the tool brands have good options compared to others.

Menards is a huge store filled with cheap **** that people run over each other to get 11% off of that they then have to spend in store....no thanks.

 

[6PTsocket]

I too was dissappointed to see who owns Milwaukee.

During my shopping on Sunday, I wound up with a deWalt drill & impact driver set. The impact driver has three settings for speed-torque, which I liked.

I have a smaller Milwaukee drill that I like and have had for a few years...so I wasn't adverse to buying a Milwaukee tool. Milwaukee didn't seem to have what I wanted...and I too was dissappointed in knowing Milwaukee is owned by a Chinese firm.

They are owned by a HongKong based holding company,Tektronic Industries or TTI. Here is a link to their holdings. See what else they own.

http://www.ttigroup.com/en/our_brands/.

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[MikeF2316]

I will agree 100% with the title. I especially like the edits where some of the names have been bought and sold.

 

[davethorik]

Found it interesting that Milwaukee/TTI owns Empire level, that's honestly a surprise, although seems like everything they make looks cheap except their larger levels.

 

[6PTsocket]

Found it interesting that Milwaukee/TTI owns Empire level, that's honestly a surprise, although seems like everything they make looks cheap except their larger levels.

I was surprised to see that TTI owns four vacuum cleaner companies. They own Ryobi too and that is a home owner grade brand. They are not all high end. There is money to be made at various price points. Stanley/B&D owns the Dewalt and the Black and Decker brand. Bosch owns the Bosch and Skil brands.

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[engineer2]

"Home Depot bought 'em out"

I know Home Depot told DeWalt they would only the carry the DeWalt line if Menards wasn't allowed to have it. This was told to me by a DeWalt rep at the National Hardware Show 25 years ago. The big guys from Atlanta got their way.

 

[honcho]

....... They own Ryobi too and that is a home owner grade brand.

They have the North American rights for Ryobi. Ryobi has some interesting power tools on their Japanese website that are for markets beyond North America

From the Ryobi website
ATTENTION CONSUMERS OF RYOBI-BRAND PRODUCTS IN NORTH AMERICA

Ryobi-brand power tools and outdoor products are sold, distributed and serviced in North America through third-party licensees of the Ryobi® trademark. Click on the following links for further information :

Ryobi-brand power tools and outdoor products

Service parts for Ryobi-brand outdoor products ONLY