I went to Lowe's to pick up a set on insulated screwdrivers only to find they now stock Southwire tools.
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Our Lowe's doesn't carry Klein tools
- Thread starter 930dreamer
- Start date
OP
Ah I was at the wrong store, sometimes all right is all wrong.
TheLawnRanger
Well-known member
Lowes is working on the Chicago Electric contract as we type.
Wrench97
Well-known member
Lowes has gone overboard on the Craftsman junk at the expense of better tool brands.
BlakeTheCarGuy
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Mine is doing away with almost all the Kobalt stuff unfortunately. I feel they are much better than the new Craftsman. I don’t use Klein as a mechanic but I do have one of their sockets I picked up at the pawn shop probably from the 70s or 80s I would guess.
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BlakeTheCarGuy
ALLIANCE MEMBER
If Lowe’s were smart, they would try to get a partnership with SK... I know it will never happen but then they could use crapsman as their homeowner brand and sk as the more serious user brand
I agree I would totally be happy with that especially since nowhere in my area sells SK I have to order it online or buy used at pawn shops
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nadogail
Well-known member
Your nearest electrical wholesale house may have the Klein Tools you desire.
neophyte
Well-known member
Lowes hasn’t sold Klein tools for at least 10 years.
Home Depot and Klein signed an exclusive contract were HD would be the only “Home Improvement Retailer”( presumably meaning HD, Lowes, similar large chains) that would sell Klein Tools in the USA, and the deal was signed back in 2009.
Southwire is an electrical cable manufacturer that decided to get into the “tool manufacturing business” although most or all the tools are manufactured in Asia, so I presume they just hired a manufacturer that already existed to manufacture the tools for them, or maybe Lowes just licensed the name.
Before Southwire, Lowes tried selling Knipex and Greenlee and I forget what else.
Generally for electrical or plumbing tools I would recommend going to Home Depot.
For woodworking tools and some general use contractor tools, Lowes and HD are about equal.
Home Depot and Klein signed an exclusive contract were HD would be the only “Home Improvement Retailer”( presumably meaning HD, Lowes, similar large chains) that would sell Klein Tools in the USA, and the deal was signed back in 2009.
Southwire is an electrical cable manufacturer that decided to get into the “tool manufacturing business” although most or all the tools are manufactured in Asia, so I presume they just hired a manufacturer that already existed to manufacture the tools for them, or maybe Lowes just licensed the name.
Before Southwire, Lowes tried selling Knipex and Greenlee and I forget what else.
Generally for electrical or plumbing tools I would recommend going to Home Depot.
For woodworking tools and some general use contractor tools, Lowes and HD are about equal.
FigureItOut
Well-known member
Lowe's around me has always had some selection of Ideal tools, but now it's almost completely replaced with Southwire. I hate it, but I can't say I blame them. I saw Ideal and Southwire sitting next to each other on the shelf at very similar prices, with the Ideal stuff collecting dust. How do you think Lowe's is going to respond to consumer demand? In the most profitable way possible, of course.
Southwire does sell some US made tools at Lowe's. I have no idea as to their quality, nor do I have any inclination to find out, but I am a bit curious who actually makes them.
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Southwire does sell some US made tools at Lowe's. I have no idea as to their quality, nor do I have any inclination to find out, but I am a bit curious who actually makes them.
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Last edited:
Coach James
Well-known member
I think selling SK at Lowes would be dead money for Lowes. Not enough people were willing to pay for the Williams made Kobalt, and the same thing would happen with SK.
I wish HD would open a store close to here as their electrical section is much better than Lowes.
Coach
I wish HD would open a store close to here as their electrical section is much better than Lowes.
Coach
neophyte
Well-known member
I think selling SK at Lowes would be dead money for Lowes. Not enough people were willing to pay for the Williams made Kobalt, and the same thing would happen with SK.
I wish HD would open a store close to here as their electrical section is much better than Lowes.
Coach
To be fair, Industrial brands aren’t necessarily well known to a large number of people, especially outside their niche, so even if the Williams sockets might be “almost” Snap-On quality, 90+% of the Lowes customers probably had no clue about the quality, or why they would be better off spending the extra money for it.
Most people just want a basic socket set that has the sizes they need, and which won’t round of the bolts or nuts they’re turning.
A lot of people don’t even know what Snap-On is, unless they know it from stocks or they’re into auto repair.
Junkdrawer Dog
Well-known member
Southwire's Made in U.S.A. pliers bear a striking resemblance to those made by Pro America.Lowe's around me has always had some selection of Ideal tools, but now it's almost completely replaced with Southwire. I hate it, but I can't say I blame them. I saw Ideal and Southwire sitting next to each other on the shelf at very similar prices, with the Ideal stuff collecting dust. How do you think Lowe's is going to respond to consumer demand? In the most profitable way possible, of course.
Southwire does sell some US made tools at Lowe's. I have no idea as to their quality, nor do I have any inclination to find out, but I am a bit curious who actually makes them.
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JP Chestnut
Well-known member
Your nearest electrical wholesale house may have the Klein Tools you desire.
My local HD has an incredible amount of Klein tools. They have many many different wire stripper options and just about every kind of plier you could want, and a bunch of different testing tools I was pretty surprised to see their very good selection.
afm
Member
My local HD has an incredible amount of Klein tools. They have many many different wire stripper options and just about every kind of plier you could want, and a bunch of different testing tools I was pretty surprised to see their very good selection.
Their exclusivity deal with Home Depot touted that they'd carry a huge selection at every store. So far I haven't been disappointed -- I even found their new flip-blade insulated screwdriver set in-store at HD.