lowes not selling the good tools!!!

[cburnscrx]

What really gets me is when a guy has plenty of money and goes to HF or Lowes anyway; that really frosts me.

Why? Maybe he's spending it on some other products supporting the economy, or maybe he's just saving it for retirement.

 

[ganymede]

.......
However, I am no stranger to the fact that it is not about the tool, it is about how you use it. Personally, I get great satisfaction out of using something I know won't quit on me in the middle of a job. I've had enough experiences with low quality tools to appreciate one that performs well.

Same here. A few ruined projects and I knew better. But I can do a job with semi-crappy tools, I just don't prefer to.

 

[scaron]

You mean to tell me that MAC tool trucks don't have a six inch chrome bulldog on the hood?

Seriously, I did not know that Mack was related to Volvo. I also did not know (until I looked it up just a minute ago) that Volvo cars was sold by Ford to a Chinese company. Globalization.



If Southwire tools really are lower quality but cost the same as pro tools, I wonder if Lowes will start having a different 50% off sale every month. Customers will be happy to buy premium-priced tools for the price of homeowner-grade tools. Lowes will sell most of the tools during the sales, at an acceptable profit margin, and occasionally sell tools at full markup.

Volvo Cars was purchased by Ford back in 1999 from Volvo AB when Ford was on a spending spree building the PAG with Jaguar, Aston Martin, etc. When Ford got into financial trouble during the recession, they sold Volvo off to a Chinese company, though some of the Volvo platform IP lives on in current Ford vehicles such as the Taurus (D3).

Volvo Truck is still owned by Volvo AB, the original Swedish parent company. They also own Mack Truck as someone else noted; this buyout also happened around the turn of the millennium.

(I have a lot of family working in the auto industry...)

As goes those Southwire tools, they are a joke to me, just cheap (quality) knock offs of Klein tools. The fact that they are such shameless imitations probably makes me hate them even more than I otherwise would. They will probably find that nobody in their right mind will buy them, clearance them all out in a few years, and move on to something else, if the historically aimless hand tool strategy at Lowe's is anything to go by, LOL.

 

[MikeF2316]

Whether it is Lowes, Home Depot, Wal-Mart or Sears, what they stock in Canada, can be totally different than what they do in the USA. Names maybe the same, but their marketing strategies are unique to each country it seems.

Yes. Generally the American stores have more and a better selection. It's nice to see we have the advantage in this case. Makes me want to buy one of every Knipex in stock, just in case they stop stocking them...

 

[RV77]

This thread got me thinking about what tools menards sells...so I went there today and found they carry knipex....only three styles.12"/6" slip joint pliers and cable cutters.

Irwin vice grips several styles

Channellock ......about every style they make and some other store brand like tool shop or something.I wasnt expecting a large selection of good tools.

Greenlee cable cuttters also..

 

[Brownsfan]

Over in the electrical isle they have ideal electrical tools as well

 

[CWP1616L]

If you want the good tools, and you want to hold the tool in your hand before buying it, sometimes you gotta search out the industrial suppliers in your area. Industrial suppliers sell to a completely different market than Home Depot and Lowes. They sell tools to guys that make a living with their tools and need the dependability that higher quality tools provide.

 

[ScurvyPete]

Everything sold at Malls is high margin items. Heck the Mall takes 6 or 7% off the top. A name brand tool store would never survive at the Mall.

I have to agree. Not to mention, 9 out of 10 guys (read: NOT GJ MEMBERS) will be perfectly content to cruise the tool section in Sears.

 

[ScurvyPete]

Volvo Truck is still owned by Volvo AB, the original Swedish parent company. They also own Mack Truck as someone else noted; this buyout also happened around the turn of the millennium.

Also, Volvo AB owns Renault Trucks as well.

 

[John in OH]

^^ Target really ? I don't think of going there for tools.

+1 !! However, today I went to Walmart (a place I usually avoid like the plague) to buy some printer cartridges and, just for fun, cruised through their small tool section. Although, they had mostly China-made junk, I was surprised to see that the racks also included:

Stanley screwdrivers (made in USA)
Stanley tape measures (made in USA)
Channel-lock sets (made in USA)
Mayhew punch & chisel set (made in USA)

Kinda cool, I thought!

 

[MackMan]

You mean to tell me that MAC tool trucks don't have a six inch chrome bulldog on the hood?

Seriously, I did not know that Mack was related to Volvo. I also did not know (until I looked it up just a minute ago) that Volvo cars was sold by Ford to a Chinese company. Globalization.

Volvo Cars was purchased by Ford back in 1999 from Volvo AB when Ford was on a spending spree building the PAG with Jaguar, Aston Martin, etc. When Ford got into financial trouble during the recession, they sold Volvo off to a Chinese company, though some of the Volvo platform IP lives on in current Ford vehicles such as the Taurus (D3).

Volvo Truck is still owned by Volvo AB, the original Swedish parent company. They also own Mack Truck as someone else noted; this buyout also happened around the turn of the millennium.

(I have a lot of family working in the auto industry...)

Also, Volvo AB owns Renault Trucks as well.

Correct all. Presumably Volvo used the money from sale of Volvo cars to buy Renault which at the time owned the majority of Mack.
Hard to keep track of this business!

Last I saw, globally Volvo was #2 in trucks behind Mercedes (Freightliner/Western Star in the USA)

Back on topic, I was at Lowes recently and they still had a full stock of Channellocks with no indication that they are being discontinued.

 

[928'er]

Now don't get me wrong that story is as old as time itself, back about 113 years ago at the turn of the century (a little before my time), my city of Columbus had a trolley system in place; but as time passed the gasoline companies convinced all the big shots to tear up the tracks and take down the lines, pretty darn smart of them, of course now we are at the mercy of the gas companies.

Sounds familiar:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy