While at HD last week looking for a new push mower, the Lawn-Boy display got my attention. Nice looking, great features for the asking price. model 10684 $339. But, read on the box"assembled" in mexico! This is a 2005 model with a date of 3-15-04 on the box(?) LB is owned by the Toro Co. The Toro mower is made in MN. John Saint Charles,MO
$339 for a self-propelled mower made in Mexico? What a rip-off - for everyone except the stockholders and the CEO of the company!
After looking around, I bought a great mower from Sears that was made in America - a Bob Villa signature series (not that this matters) 22" cutting deck, variable speed rear bagger, regular price about $328, on sale with early bird special for about $260 on sale. Sears doesn't make their own tools and equipment - they contract with a company that makes the stuff to put on a private label. From my understanding, Electrolux is one company that makes these mowers and slaps a B&S engine on top.
I also bought a very nice Porter-Cable saw at Sears for $129 - also made in America. I could have bought this saw at HD, if they didn't stock only the left-handed models. Some Porter-Cable tools have lasted up to
50 years with regular service. My grandfather was a contractor and he had Porter-Cable tools. Those were the first power tools I ever used, down in my grandfather's basement workshop. The tools were left to my uncle, who doesn't use them and have left them and all the other tools in a chest in the basement. When my uncle kicks, they will be mine, as he doesn't have any sons and his grandsons aren't into tools - you can't plug them in and play games on them!Yes I could have bought a POS saw from Harbor Freight along with an extended warranty - the net effect is to have a tool that when it breaks or stops working, I can take it back and get another one. The thing is, their stuff breaks way too often and I lose time going back again and again. I'd much rather buy something once and keep using it for years and years - like my Craftsman drill, rachets and other tools. I have only had to return to Sears twice in 25 years to replace a Craftsman tool - once to replace a rachet mechanism and once to replace a cracked socket.
It's not that the American consumer can really make logical choices based on the value of the tools made in America vs. elsewhere, or the choice between supporting fellow American workers vs. sending money to help build up the Chinese military. Those questions are secondary to the question on where the investors will get the greatest return on their investment - in the US or elsewhere.
What good or service is produced and any value judgments (helping out your fellow Americans, balance of trade, technology transfers, etc.) are secondary - if considered at all - for the Ownership/Investment Class, who are the investors, the people who manage the investments and the managers of the companies the investments are placed in.
John Prokovich wrote:
Isn't Electrolux a Swedish company?
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