Irwin sold to Black and Decker

[woodchucker]

I suppose you saw the news that Stanley /Black and Decker has made an offer to Newell on Irwin and the subdivisions, like Hanson... etc.

They offered 2 times the amount that it should have gone for. I think that will hurt Irwin even more as they try to recoup their expenditures.

Irwin used to be a quality company 60 or so years ago. Not sure now, I think it's more low end retail.

We all know that Stanley and B&D are not what they were. But the idiot analysts on Wall Street think that they are a top tool company that can set Irwin straight, since Newell had no real tool experience. Isn't it amazing that the analysts don't know that Stanley and B&D have slipped into trash companies..

[krw]

...and another one bites the dust.

They don't care about the quality of the tools, only the quality of the balance sheet.

[Leon]

Exactly. But they must know what they are doing, B&D has not been a good brand tool for 35+ years and are apparently still very much alive.

[Swingman]

fify ...

[Bill]

Well, if a consumer would pay $40 for a tool you could make for $20, or for $15, which one would you manufacture? I was speaking to a crafts-person ("woodworker") who explained to me that his tourist customers would pay the same thing ($5-$15) for a "piece of junk" he made in 3 minutes as they would if he put "lots more time" in. He was assembling them by the dozens with a glue gun as we spoke.

[Leon]

Pricing all depends on your customer and or the customer you are trying to attract. B&D pretty much does not train sales staff to sell their product so they can sell at a lower price and this works for them.

Festool builds a premium product and you have to buy from a dedicated retailer that is knowledgeable.

I build a certain level of quality and would not change that. I DO NOT want to do any warranty work so putting more into the quality keeps me from having to deal with problems after delivery. So I would make the widget with the $20 materials. Cheap sells and so does quality.

[Bill]

Yes, I think you summed it up well. Sometimes "Harbor Freight" is the right solution... The more you care, or need to care, about things like "quality", the more you may be willing to pay. I use Suave shampoo--what do I know...lol Like I sometime tell my barber, "You don't prune a dead tree..." (It's not original but I like it)

Bill

[krw]

Marketing. We're in a very small minority.

[Electric Comet]

birds of a feather flock together

but the question is does this mean that those tools will increase or decrease in price

increase because now they have limited or removed their competitor

decrease because they still have competition

such as harbor freight

i bet that the prices go up since hf is not in home improvement stores as far as i know and so that market will see an increase

[woodchucker]

well, it has to go up, they spent 2 x what it should have gone for. That means they are going to lower quality and increase cost to make up for that expenditure.

[Electric Comet]

could be but hf is probably happy about it no matter what happens

[Bill]

I just checked, they are "privately held" so you can't buy stock in them.