McFeely's

I have suffered that with lag bolts that floated across an ocean to my job site.

I guess if you think square drive is the cat's meow then your local hardware store may not be the place for you. That said the local hardware store will likely never be the place to go compared to an industrial fastners supply house. I have driven a block from the hardware store to the fastners store to get bolts. I do not know the country of origin of McFeely's fastners but the fastener store sources from all those wonderful over seas factories. So far they have had what I wanted in a quality sufficient for my tasks. But I have not gone off on a specialty screw hunt. McFeely's certainly looks like an easier shopping place than other places.

Reply to
Jim Behning
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Let me guess... you're in Canada.

Reply to
Doug Miller

SFWIW, if you are looking for S/S fasteners, they all come in from offshore.

Lately, it has been India.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

Not that I'm aware of...

Reply to
dpb

I don't think it is so much the point of origin but the quality control and quality specs that drive the price the importing company is willing to pay. Those places that advertise low prices are willing to accept much more marginal performance; sometimes to the point that the product becomes worthless or nearly worthless for its intended application.

Reply to
Mark & Juanita

Where is it, then, that you have an easy time finding square-drive screws at the local hardware store?

Reply to
Doug Miller

I don't have any love/fascination with robertson screws. I use them if I can get them but I do not seek them out. So ignore any comments I have about McFeely's if one feels that McFeely's is a synonym for robertson screws. I can use hex drive screws for some things, regular old phillips head screws for others, the universal phillips/square drive for other tasks. If I come across robertson screws at the store and it lets me do a project then great.

Reply to
Jim Behning

I don't know about dbp but the local Ace hardware...in southern Wisconsin...has them...a pretty good asortment of sizes and materials...including some stainless ones.

Mike

Reply to
The Davenport's

You seem to be making a lot of assumptions based on a gut-feeling...now I'm not going to say that your predictions are NOT going to come true, just the LSS and Grainger have been doing business for a long time and don't tend towards the "buy and gut" method that many other companies do. LSS started out in a dudes garage, was easy going and easy to deal with then and nothing about that has chaged in the past 20 years or so that I've dealt with them.

And no...I have no connection to them other than having the same ZIP code.

Mike

Reply to
The Davenport's

snipped-for-privacy@milmac.com (Doug Miller) wrote in news:F2hHi.3311$ snipped-for-privacy@nlpi061.nbdc.sbc.com:

I'm not who you asked, but my local Do It Best Hardware, a true value to the community. has many styles and grades of square drive screws, and drivers, too.

And parking right in front. And help that knows what they're talking about, and where to find the stuff. And knows my name, too.

Although Peter hasn't asked about my sister, lately. ;-)

Third generation in the business, and the fourth generation is learning, too. Girls!

Patriarch

Reply to
Patriarch

Corner of 15th and Main...

Reply to
dpb

Hey folks,

I'm Ron Pegram. I've been with McFeely's since 1997. During that time, I worked closely with Jim Ray, beginning as the Customer Service Manager and being promoted to the position of General Manager over time. When LSS acquired McFeely's, I expressed a desire to continue on with the company. Quite frankly, I have a lot of emotional investment in the brand, having spent so much of my life trying to grow it. To my delight, the folks at LSS were just as interested in continuing to do the things that have made McFeely's successful as I am and I am now the Brand Manager for McFeely's in our new offices in Madison, WI.

Within the LSS family of brands, there's a real attempt to keep brands separate so that each unit can do the things its customers demand. So, yes we have been acquired by a much larger company but no, we're not being forced to walk away from value-added services like consumer- friendly packaged quantities of screws. If anything, the additional resources we have should let us pursue services that make us more convenient for our customers. Trust me, LSS values what makes these brands work.

I've posted this here because I want you all to have a name and a person with whom to identify when you're discussing McFeely's. If something we do isn't to your liking, please let me know. I can be reached at any one of the following contacts:

snipped-for-privacy@mcfeelys.com

1-800-443-7937 (ask for extension 3317) 1-608-662-3317 (toll number)

Generally, I work between 8AM - 6PM CST. My job in the years to come is to guarantee that McFeely's doesn't change unless it's for the better. I expect you to hold my feet to the fire on that.

Respectfully yours,

Ron Pegram, MBA (yes, I'm one of those dreaded MBA's but I am also one of the good guys)

Reply to
r.pegram

Ron - thanks very much for the response, and *especially* for providing your contact info. You'll probably hear from a lot of people here.

Reply to
Doug Miller

Thank you for the above clarification.

Jim Ray has been considered to be one of the "good guys" for many of us.

Can you give us some idea why he sold the business?

How is he doing these days?

Reply to
Lee Michaels

Everyone seems to be singing the praises of Grainger, and I'm a bit curious as to people's dealings with them.

Lots of places have "Trade Only" or "Commercial Accounts Only" on the door. Most, however, are willing to sell to anyone, as long as the customer has a reasonable idea of what he wants. I've found the local Grainger - Portland, Maine - a bit on the rigid side on that policy.

Do you find most of the Grainger stores sell to walk-ins? No mandatory minimum charges? How about by mail?

John Martin

Reply to
John Martin

IN REPLY TO . . . . . . I have not gone off on a specialty screw hunt. McFeely's certainly looks like an easier shopping place than other places.

"Mark & Juanita" wrote

SNIP

I'm a big user of screws . . . vs. nails. Predominately this means SS, followed by Bronze {Marine}, then McFeeley's 'Yellow Zinc' - with a '100-hour Salt Spray test' - followed by the more 'common' coated steel. I have tried to convert completely to 'square drive' for good, solid, mechanical reasons. They are even used for 'land-based' & 'home' projects.

That being said, it took me some time to arrive at this stage. I absolutely HATE paying shipping charges . . . especially when they go up by steep increments. Plus this stuff is HEAVY. I've had very good service from McFeeley's - hopefully this will continue. I plan ahead on my orders and get 'efficient quantities'. I WILL check with Grainger . . . there used to be a local 'office' in a nearby industrial park.

Regards & Thanks, Ron Magen Backyard Boatshop

Reply to
Ron Magen

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business ID, no sale. None of the branches I have seen (and I think that holds for web/mail order sales as well) are set up to collect sales tax -- ergo, no business id to show exemption, no sale.

I strongly suspect that will not be anything they would do to McFeely's as it would essentially remove the need for having purchased it to begin with...

It is, in fact, the retail sales aspect of it that I would presume attracted their interest.

--

Reply to
dpb

They're set up to sell to people who are either maintaining facilities or manufacturing products--in the former case they assume that you're looking for a replacement for an existing part, while in the latter they're assuming that you're looking for something that was specified by an engineer. As long as you act like you're in one of those categories, i.e. have a part number and quantity or a sample of what you need or a busted part you need to replace, there shouldn't be any problem.

Reply to
J. Clarke

Thanks for posting to the group. My big question remains: will we be able to pick up those great McFeely screws at Grainger's now? We've got a great one not far from here and I greatly prefer wandering around in there to doing mail order.

Reply to
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

The one around here technically has that policy. However, when the guy asked for a business name, it was more of a "wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more, say no more" sort of thing.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Friesen

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