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Walmart has Channellocks Now!

Z

zkling

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kythri said:
Well, we're kinda past that mark now, because the licensed-production stuff has been out for more than five years. Walmart's been selling the brand for more than five years.
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Can I borrow your time machine? :lol_hitti
Please read my comment again. I'm speaking of the next, as in upcoming 5 years. Lets hope not, but only time will tell. I just have a very dismal outlook on USA manufacturing in the future. :sad:


zkling said:
I have a bad feeling, within the next 5 years; Channellock will be no longer made in USA. :sad: Probably Taiwan, maybe China. :dunno:
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Super Sport

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firebox40dash5 said:
Snap On lets their name be plastered on gobs of Chinese pure ****... like the $10 lights at Tractor Supply or Amazon.
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Your point?

Snap On has slowly been offshoring production of quite a few of their products as well. Who knows what the future has in store for them either...

:willy_nil
 
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kythri

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Super Sport said:
You contradicted your own point earlier in your post.
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No, I didn't.

Craftsman, as a brand, has never had it's own production facilities. It has always contracted it's production out.

Channellock has it's own production facilities. Yes, it does license out it's name for use on other stuff, but it is a manufacturer itself, unlike the Craftsman brand.

Channellock does not contract out production. Licensing the brand to others is not contracting out production.

Super Sport said:
The fact they they're already allowing their name to be put on cheap imported **** scares me a little!
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Again, something every other brand does.
 
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Conductor562

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As others have said, Channellock has really made USA production the selling point on their core products. They are affordable for USA made as well. I can't see them "china-ing" out, but I suppose anything is possible.
 
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CWP1616L

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I think Walmart might be slowly getting the hint that if they force all their suppliers to move production off shore, eventually their customers won't have any paying jobs to buy Walmart products with.
 
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Specs

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Wow, wally world with channel lock products, way to make diy'ers feel like a sir.

I've seen those screw drivers you guys are referring to. If I didn't have the craftsman black handle set, I'd get em. Sometimes the outsourced group that makes the tool gets it right. I have the china made Milwaukee 8amp corded drill with the "made to our most stricted standards in china" or some gobbledy gook on the box. It hasn't died yet.

And it's true about tool prices. If the fourpack of channel locks pliers is less than $40.00, you ask what's wrong with it. Blems? Refurbs? Reminds me to go get some snap ring pliers before xmas.
 
OP
F

Farmall450

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zkling said:
Why? If you look at their quality over the years it has drastically decreased. I'm pretty sure some of their products are already made over seas, just time till their entire pliers lineup is. :sad: Only time will tell though.


Cough craftsman cough?
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Not really...?
 
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cburnscrx

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Super Sport said:
You can't always trust the media, but it's worth a read: http://www.fastcompany.com/47593/wal-mart-you-dont-know

Walmart pressures suppliers to continuously lower costs, to the point where the supplier must choose to stop doing business with their biggest customer, or outsource production to lower costs. Ending business with Walmart will likely ruin their company, so they instead outsource.

It's been said time and time again, and there are specific examples out there. I don't work in the industry so I can't personally comment on the truthfulness, but I can't say I doubt it.
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I can personally verify that Walmart has in the past pressured a supplier to sell a product below manufacturing cost IF they wanted Walmart to continue to carry any of their product line going forward.
 
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Farmall450

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cburnscrx said:
I can personally verify that Walmart has in the past pressured a supplier to sell a product below manufacturing cost IF they wanted Walmart to continue to carry any of their product line going forward.
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Who says channellock will comply?
Walmart doesn't carry much of their product....like two vs farm & fleet's 50+... :willy_nil
 
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cburnscrx

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Farmall450 said:
Not really...?
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Farmall450 said:
Who says channellock will comply?
Walmart doesn't carry much of their product....like two vs farm & fleet's 50+... :willy_nil
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Nobody says they will comply, and I am not saying that practice still exists.

However, I suspect it does, and if they can pressure a private equity firm with over 3 billion in assets, I suspect Channellock is not immune. Maybe they don't need the sales, but my suspicion is they do otherwise why would they be at Walmart in the first place? It's not like Stanley doesn't manufacture groove joint pliers.

Just food for thought...
 
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dave12b

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You can buy Proto tools at Wal-Mart.com with free ship to store. That doesn't mean that Proto will be moving production overseas or anything else. Wal-Mart sells products that it thinks people will buy and give the most shelf space to what they think most people will buy. CL is a household name that people look for when buying "chanellocks".

OP, we have had them here for quite some time. However, the walmart 20 minutes from here has almost no tool selection (or hunting/fishing) at all. I think that they choose what what to stock based on the area. Sounds like good buisness to me.
 
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Farmall450

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dave12b said:
You can buy Proto tools at Wal-Mart.com with free ship to store. That doesn't mean that Proto will be moving production overseas or anything else. Wal-Mart sells products that it thinks people will buy and give the most shelf space to what they think most people will buy. CL is a household name that people look for when buying "chanellocks".

OP, we have had them here for quite some time. However, the walmart 20 minutes from here has almost no tool selection (or hunting/fishing) at all. I think that they choose what what to stock based on the area. Sounds like good buisness to me.
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I agree. I did a double take when I saw those baby blues :lol_hitti

cburnscrx said:
Nobody says they will comply, and I am not saying that practice still exists.

However, I suspect it does, and if they can pressure a private equity firm with over 3 billion in assets, I suspect Channellock is not immune. Maybe they don't need the sales, but my suspicion is they do otherwise why would they be at Walmart in the first place? It's not like Stanley doesn't manufacture groove joint pliers.

Just food for thought...
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They do...for a few bones less. But the channellocks flag design looks great next to them.
 
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91FE

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Saw this article the other day:

"ORLANDO — Wal-Mart Stores is spearheading an effort to bring together retailers, suppliers and government officials so they can figure out how to bring more manufacturing jobs to the United States.

The world's largest retailer hosted its first two-day U.S. Manufacturing Summit in Orlando last week, hoping to capitalize on the company's recent commitment to drive more manufacturing in the U.S. The "made in the USA" campaign could boost Wal-Mart's image, which is constantly under attack by labor-backed groups who have criticized the retail behemoth as a destroyer of U.S. jobs rather than a creator."

Read it for yourself here:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money...art-pushes-made-in-america-at-summit/2689235/
 
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kythri

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cburnscrx said:
Maybe they don't need the sales, but my suspicion is they do otherwise why would they be at Walmart in the first place? It's not like Stanley doesn't manufacture groove joint pliers.
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That's an interesting bit of logic. Perhaps they simply sell at Walmart because it's yet another channel to make money from? One can sell through a channel and not be beholden to that channel for their existence.

And just because Stanley makes something doesn't mean that Channellock doesn't want to sell more of their stuff.

Necessity is not the same thing as desire.
 
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crankshaftdan II

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Does Channelock still sell the more expensive Red/Blue line which is better than just the Blue Line? Maybe that line is reserved for grainger's, ITW, etc. where they can demand a higher price point? The handles look more sturdy than the regular line-I don't know about the difference in quality of the two??:dunno:
 
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archirelic

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crankshaftdan II said:
Does Channelock still sell the more expensive Red/Blue line which is better than just the Blue Line? Maybe that line is reserved for grainger's, ITW, etc. where they can demand a higher price point? The handles look more sturdy than the regular line-I don't know about the difference in quality of the two??:dunno:
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The only difference between the pliers you're referencing and the traditional blue line...are simply the handles.

The red/blue handles are marketed as comfort-grip handles...no other difference in the pliers themselves with the that exception.
 
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BDT/NWMN

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Channellock can be found in the WalMarts around here; along with Vaughan hammers, Stanley plastic toolboxes, and a few other USA products... Good tools for the price.
 
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cburnscrx

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Depending on the Walmart, I've seen all those things. I have one Walmart near me that has both the USA Stanley toolbox and the Channellocks. It's nice to see there are options from the $2.99 junk that comes in the cardboard boxes at the bottom of the shelf.
 
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cburnscrx

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OP
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Farmall450

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ChevyEFI

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Farmall450 said:
Who says channellock will comply?
Walmart doesn't carry much of their product....like two vs farm & fleet's 50+... :willy_nil
Click to expand...
I walked through the tools tonight. 4 different models of pliers in the
icon5.gif
color. 440s and some others.

If they're distributing to a majority of WalMarts, that's a lot of pliers. And a lot of U.S. tools. :)
 
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mmack66

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OP
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Farmall450

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ChevyEFI said:
I walked through the tools tonight. 4 different models of pliers in the
icon5.gif
color. 440s and some others.

If they're distributing to a majority of WalMarts, that's a lot of pliers. And a lot of U.S. tools. :)
Click to expand...

Mine only had 2!


But like those 2 x 5 each. A LOT of US tools :beer:
 
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