Klein tools clearanced at lowes!!!!!

[volpster31]

hello everyone......my first post here but ive been lurking around for a couple months.

i was at my local lowes today & they have all of their klein & greenlee tools on clearance...just thought id give a heads up ..they were only a few dollars off regular price ,but i think they lower clearance prices weekly so ill keep an eye out

p.s, thanks for the new tool addiction

 

[cruiser808]

Welcome to the board and thanks for the heads up on the Klein's and Greenlee's.

 

[jumpyg]

I picked up a pair of Klein cable cutters for $18 (reg. $24) at Lowes last week. They work great!

 

[v8garage]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for the heads up!

 

[Coach James]

I picked up some Klein wire strippers at Lowes this week. Regular $18 for $11.

Coach

 

[danski0224]

I checked it out.

Most prices are simply lowered. It is not a clearance of Klein tools.

 

[GrantMLS]

it's a cleanrace because they are no longer going to carry klien - Home depot is now the big box exclusive for kliens..

 

[danski0224]

it's a cleanrace because they are no longer going to carry klien - Home depot is now the big box exclusive for kliens..

I just went to the Lowes not 3 miles from my house, and 99% of the tags there said "New lower Price". There was only one, maybe two, that said "Clearance"... the one I saw was for a 7/16" nutdriver.

There were several CRC branded items like silicone lube and galvanizing spray that were on clearance for less than $2 per can.

 

[mrb]

it's a cleanrace because they are no longer going to carry klien - Home depot is now the big box exclusive for kliens..

ahhh...that explains the absence of greenlee at homedepot, and the appearance of these aweful flourescent orange klein fishtapes.

I thought HD was getting rid of Klein and going with Ideal, but maybe that lowes. The ideal tools are chinese made klein knockoffs from what I have seen.

 

[GrantMLS]

yup - lowes is stuck with ideal. I did just get a oranage bender - color is hidious..

 

[FNFS2000]

They're all lower grade stuff compared to other options out there. Anything found in a big box is not going to be "premium"

 

[GrantMLS]

I just went to the Lowes not 3 miles from my house, and 99% of the tags there said "New lower Price". There was only one, maybe two, that said "Clearance"... the one I saw was for a 7/16" nutdriver.

There were several CRC branded items like silicone lube and galvanizing spray that were on clearance for less than $2 per can.

they all will be gone soon.. our lowes actually already pulled them off - i was there this weekend to see if the prices had gone down anymore and they were off the shelf. But on the good side - Home depot now carries a lot more kliens - they have a tone of more options including the punch down tools and other tele comp stuff.

 

[mrb]

yup - lowes is stuck with ideal. I did just get a oranage bender - color is hidious..

I cant stand colored bender handles. I buy just the heads and a piece of pipe for the handle. Ends up cheaper too. My 1" is an ideal with a blue handle though, i needed it in a hurry and it was all they had.

 

[Merkava_4]

The ideal tools are chinese made klein knockoffs from what I have seen.

Some are, some aren't - the infamous #30-429 is still made in USA - you won't find it at Lowes though.

 

[gatewaysysop]

it's a cleanrace because they are no longer going to carry klien - Home depot is now the big box exclusive for kliens..

Tried making a run to Lowe's last night, hoping to find some Klein goodness. Turns out there wasn't anything Klein in the entire store.

Looking at their website I wasn't able to find anything either, but that makes sense if they're no longer going to carry Klein.

Oh well, Home Depot is much closer anyway and if they're going to be carrying Klein, all the better.

 

[skeletonizer]

The Klein "Journeyman" screwdrivers are very nice. The nicest US made soft handles I have seen in a store.

They still carry them at Ace Hardware, not really a big box but there it is.

 

[Scooterfish]

Gateway

Heads up, Klien tools are usually in the electrical dept. at Lowes & HD

 

[GrantMLS]

watch sears too - they use to carry klien and will be dwindling thier stock soon

 

[HandyManny]

Klein screwdrivers are only worth about half of what they normally charge anyway.

One thing about Lowes lately is that I'm seeing them get rid of a lot of professional brands and replace them with a lot of pedestrian type, weekend worroir, DIY'er type tools, both power tools and hand tools. Lots of Firestorm and Black&Decker stuff. A lot of their own store brand stuff too. It used to be that even in theirr hand tool section they used to offer many various brands of hand tools, but now the vast majority of it is all Kobalt store brand stuff. Lowes has also stopped carrying most of the Delta power tools as well. They have very few Milwakee Tool power tools.

Back in January I was at Lowes and bought a Delta bench grinder for $55, it normally sold for $120. I asked why they had so many brand new in-the-box Delta bench grinders on sale, they guy working there said that Delta power tools have now become a non-stock item and they didn't sell near as many as they expected during Christmas time. They just wanted to get rid of the inventory.


Home Depot actually has a good selection of professional grade tools i.e., Hilti power tools, Milwakee Tool, Ridgid hand tools, Vaughan hammers, Malco sheet metal tools. Sadly a lot of folk wrongly think that Ridgid is a Home Depot store brand or that HD has exclusivity on it. Not even close to true. A lot of industrial suppliers have alway sold Ridgid. Even today many Ace hardware stores still sell Ridgid hand tools as they always have. Most of my handful of Ridgid plumbing tools I bought 20 years ago at a local Ace and at a Hugh M Woods store.

Lowes better start stepping up to the plate and remain catering to the pros or they will be the little guy soon.

 

[danski0224]

RIDGID plumbing tools are not the same as the RIDGID power tools.

The power tools are made under license to carry the RIDGID name, and I believe the non-plumbing tools are exclusive to Home Depot. Those power tools used to be made in the USA by Emerson Electric, but now they are made in China.

Milwaukee electric tools are also exclusive to HD- that's why Lowes clearanced them last year.

HD has RIDGID and Husky as store brands, Lowes has Kobalt and Menards has MasterForce. The common theme between all those brands is the country of origin, China, which means more profit for the store.

Sears has Craftsman and Companion, but at least the Craftsman hand tools are still (mostly) sourced from USA vendors.

 

[gatewaysysop]

Gateway

Heads up, Klien tools are usually in the electrical dept. at Lowes & HD

Believe me, I scoured the whole place before giving up.

 

[HandyManny]

RIDGID plumbing tools are not the same as the RIDGID power tools.

The power tools are made under license to carry the RIDGID name, and I believe the non-plumbing tools are exclusive to Home Depot. Those power tools used to be made in the USA by Emerson Electric, but now they are made in China.

Milwaukee electric tools are also exclusive to HD- that's why Lowes clearanced them last year.

HD has RIDGID and Husky as store brands, Lowes has Kobalt and Menards has MasterForce. The common theme between all those brands is the country of origin, China, which means more profit for the store.

Sears has Craftsman and Companion, but at least the Craftsman hand tools are still (mostly) sourced from USA vendors.

Ridgid power tools can also be bought through many industrial suppliers and construction supply warehouses, at least they were up until recently, maybe that's changed. I fail to believe that Emerson would allow only one channel for their products to sell being that they exist mainly to serve the pros. I think HD has exclusivity to sell Ridgid power tools to the general public of the "big-box" stores, but not purely exclusivity to sell them, unless that has all changed.

I've seen Milaukee power tools sold at a couple small privately owned tool shops in my area as well, they always have and still do. Also the two Lowes nearest me still sell a small selection of Milwaukee power tools and stock them regularly, of course I'm talking a very small selection of regular products. Milauakee used to be made here in the USA too until recently. I've seen a lot of the new stuff with "made in china" and "made in mexico" on it. Pehaps the sawzall is the core product still being made here.

Craftsman also isn't exclusive to Sears either, though they are the biggest retailer of them and far outweigh the few other retailers. Kmart, military base BXs, and Fastenal also are authorized to sell Craftsman tools.

 

[danski0224]

Some of the exclusivity is related to the big box store format. There are many places online and some smaller specialty tool stores that carry Milwaukee, but HD is the only big box that carries the stuff.

I have not shopped for the RIDGID non-plumbing power tools outside of HD. As long as those items are made in China, there are other choices of similar quality at a lower price.

 

[GrantMLS]

Home depot is also looking at carrying Craftsman as the big box exclusive also.. Its the last item sears has that they can sell off for a nice chunk of change..

 

[HandyManny]

Home depot is also looking at carrying Craftsman as the big box exclusive also.. Its the last item sears has that they can sell off for a nice chunk of change..

That would kill or at the very least severly affect their Husky store brand sales. And if a deal like that ever went through I'm nearly certain that Craftsman hand tools would nearly all end up being made in china and taiwan. It would also cause a ripple effect to the makers of the brand. The huge number of suppliers and various manufacturers who make the Craftsman brand tool for Sears would greatly be affected as well.

I doubt that will ever happen as long as Sears is still in business. But, from what I hear from both current and former employees and upper management about the way Sears operates I'm really surprised they are still in business and didn't die long ago.

I do know this: Lowes has shown that they are definitley beginning to lag behind. It started happening around the time that JH Williams stopped making the Kobalt brand wrenches, ratchets, and sockets for them.

 

[a390st]

Lowe's had all of the electrical tools on sale. Not clearance, but sale. Klein, Greenlee, Ideal, everything. The sales weren't that great, but they were on sale.

 

[Thedroid]

Klein screwdrivers are toys imho. There pliers are nice, but I think all of Ideal's tools are comparable.

 

[danski0224]

One thing that is clearanced is a 32' aluminum extension ladder for $132.00 (better than 50% off)
At least by me.
Bought one.

 

[HandyManny]

Lowe's had all of the electrical tools on sale. Not clearance, but sale. Klein, Greenlee, Ideal, everything. The sales weren't that great, but they were on sale.

Yeah I just got back from my local Lowes. All Kleins were on sale, but for a liquidated item I expected better sale prices, only a couple buck off normal price. I won't buy Klein screwdrivers anymore, even if they are on sale. I was tempted to buy some pliers, but I already own a few good Klein pliers - Lineman's, Diagonal cutters, and Needle nose pliers. All of which are from 15 yrs to 20 years old, well used, but still have many more years of service in them.

Oh, and while I was there I looked. Lowes is still selling Milwaukee Tool power tools. The sales guy said he knowns they have limited the selection, but has not heard of any plans to stop selling the brand.

 

[danski0224]

Lowes is still selling Milwaukee Tool power tools. The sales guy said he knowns they have limited the selection, but has not heard of any plans to stop selling the brand.

I wonder if Lowes and HD stock different Milwaukee items.

 

[HandyManny]

They both sell DeWalt, (heck for while Costco was selling DeWalt) so I can't think of any reason they would sell different Milwuakee tools from the same brand. If I was the maker of a certain brand that was made for the professional I sure would want more than one sales outlet for my product. I'm mean I want to stay in business and I can only do that by sales volume.

It's pretty stupid marketing if these manufacturing companies allow exclusivity to one "big-box" store and doesn't distribute to another. That would be like shooting themselves in the foot.

Actually I think it has more to do with Lowes decision not to carry or stock certain profession products. That seems to be the case with all the Delta Power tools that Lowes used to sell. Lowes just seems to want to sell Kobalt in everything. I noticed a couple years ago they stopped selling Allen brand hex drive tools and replaced all that stiff with Kobalt. All the old Eagle Hardware store that Lowes acquired used to sell very good professional grade hand tools. Once Lowes took over, a lot of those good tools were no longer on the shelf. Maybe Lowes just has some incompetent Buyers in their corporate office who really don't know much about tools or the building trades. You know, mis-management and having the wrong people in the wrong positions has lead to the downfall of lots of corporations. Lowes is heading that way.

 

[HandyManny]

Stopped by Lowes again yesterday on the way home from work. They still have the Kliens on sale. I was able to talk to a department manager about why they have them marked down. He confirmed that the product line is going away from Lowes. I asked why. His first answer was that Lowes is going "cheap" and want to sell Ideal instead. Then he went on to say that it's really because certain tools just don't sell, and if they can't move them fast enough then they don't make money off of them, so they stop carrying them. It's just product attrition. He said this is the problem they have with Klien tools.

He also went on to say the same about Milwuakee Tool. They stock and sell only a couple Milwauakee tool because those are the two Milwuakee products that sell. With Klien he said that they have stuff on the shelf now that they recieved as a shipment up to three years ago. I believe it. Even with the sale prices, that Klien stuff still isn't moving that fast.

He did confirm that none of the big-box store has exclusivity on anything. That's all speculation, urban legend, and consumer myth he said. He confirmed that the makers and marketers of the brand will rarely if ever allow exclusivity to sell a product line. When one retailer or supplier doesn't sell a certain brand, it's mainly and almost alway because they choses not to carry that product line. He just confirmed what I had suspected all along.

 

[jumpyg]

FYI, Lowes clearance sales aren't national. If all stores are getting rid of Klein tools, you will find varying discounts depending on which store you go to. Mine has everything about 25% off. After that, they will usually increase it to 50%, then 75% or more. I think if you keep looking every time you're in the store, you may find bigger discounts if you're patient.

 

[mkdive]

I still think the 10-1 Klein is a handy as hell driver to have in a belt or bag. Not suited for garage work, but thats not what it was made for. I had to change out 200+ sub panels out about a two years ago on a job site...the Klein did alright by me?!

 

[GrantMLS]

Stopped by Lowes again yesterday on the way home from work. They still have the Kliens on sale. I was able to talk to a department manager about why they have them marked down. He confirmed that the product line is going away from Lowes. I asked why. His first answer was that Lowes is going "cheap" and want to sell Ideal instead. Then he went on to say that it's really because certain tools just don't sell, and if they can't move them fast enough then they don't make money off of them, so they stop carrying them. It's just product attrition. He said this is the problem they have with Klien tools.

He also went on to say the same about Milwuakee Tool. They stock and sell only a couple Milwauakee tool because those are the two Milwuakee products that sell. With Klien he said that they have stuff on the shelf now that they recieved as a shipment up to three years ago. I believe it. Even with the sale prices, that Klien stuff still isn't moving that fast.

He did confirm that none of the big-box store has exclusivity on anything. That's all speculation, urban legend, and consumer myth he said. He confirmed that the makers and marketers of the brand will rarely if ever allow exclusivity to sell a product line. When one retailer or supplier doesn't sell a certain brand, it's mainly and almost alway because they choses not to carry that product line. He just confirmed what I had suspected all along.

lol I like his answers... wrong but good - Kilien are exclusive big box to depot.. I sat through a lot of meetings about it..

 

[HandyManny]

So what you're saying is that a manager at Lowes wouldn't know? It seems to me that a manager at Lowes would know. Well then why has Lowes sold Kliens all along then if they are exclusive to Home Depot? A couple tool store in my area also sell them, granted they are not "big-box". It does make sense from a manufacturers point of view. Allowing exclusivity on your product in some way is like commiting corporate suicide. Seems to me that the makers would want as many home and building supply stores too sell their product as they can have. Just my thoughts

 

[HandyManny]

I still think the 10-1 Klein is a handy as hell driver to have in a belt or bag. Not suited for garage work, but thats not what it was made for. I had to change out 200+ sub panels out about a two years ago on a job site...the Klein did alright by me?!

Try the IRWIN 9-in-1. It's made in China, but the bit tips are a heck of a lot more durable than those on the Klien 5-in-1 or 10-in-1. You'll be pleasantly surprised. Either way most any screwdirver with multi function is real nice to have. They do come in handy.

 

[GrantMLS]

So what you're saying is that a manager at Lowes wouldn't know? It seems to me that a manager at Lowes would know. Well then why has Lowes sold Kliens all along then if they are exclusive to Home Depot? A couple tool store in my area also sell them, granted they are not "big-box". It does make sense from a manufacturers point of view. Allowing exclusivity on your product in some way is like commiting corporate suicide. Seems to me that the makers would want as many home and building supply stores too sell their product as they can have. Just my thoughts

Pretty sure a regional merchandising manager for Home Depot would know before him You should be seeing the new Klein signs at home depot very soon - most of the Midwest has already received and hung them

 

[GrantMLS]

And coming from working at lowes for 5 years - no at the store level we knew NOTHING..

 

[Stuey]

Yikes!

I saw a lot of "new lower price" stickers but assumed it was a large scale price reduction and not a clearance. I checked back a few times over the past month or so, and the prices have not dropped further.

Here are photos that I took in early February. I uploaded them on 2/18, so they were taken sometime before that.