Some influencers and enthusiasts have suggested that Makita tools could potentially be sold at Lowe’s stores, but I strongly doubt that this is a possibility.
There are some shifts in the cordless power tool industry right now, with Flex seemingly being shoved out of Lowe’s stores, and there has been a lot of speculation about what happens next.
The two most interesting theories are that “maybe EGO is going back to Home Depot, and Flex along with them,” and “maybe Makita is taking the place of Flex at Lowe’s.” Neither seem plausible to me.
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EGO was once exclusive at Home Depot. Home Depot made a surprise announcement that they were dropping EGO, and the next day Lowe’s and EGO announced a new partnership. Word is that EGO broke the exclusivity and that’s why Home Depot dropped the brand.
Flex and Skil are owned by the same company that owns EGO. Less than a year after Lowe’s and EGO announced their partnership, Flex tools launched exclusively at Lowe’s.
Interesting fact: Lowe’s executive VP of merchandising used to be CEO of Chervon North America, which is the regional arm of the company that owns EGO, Flex, and Skil. He also used to work at Home Depot as senior VP of merchandising. The tool and retail industry can be a very small world at times.
Flex isn’t going to Home Depot – I’d say the retailer seems plenty satisfied with Milwaukee, Dewalt, and Makita pro brands.
So the Flex tool brand is leaving Lowe’s and going… nowhere? That’s what it looks like.
“Ah, so Makita could maybe take their place at Lowe’s?” Why would they do that?
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Around 2 years ago, Lowe’s dumped a whole lot of Flex tools from stores, replacing them with cheaper and lower powered compact tools.
Flex’s chief marketing officer, who had been in various roles at Chervon for nearly 20 years, assured me it was just a routine refresh. They left the company less than a year later.
Makita has been on a new trajectory in the USA, and seem uninterested in bleeding money to compete with Dewalt and Milwaukee at aggressively discounted price point products.
They have more name recognition than Flex, but would Makita thrive at Lowe’s? I don’t think so.
Consider Bosch 18V and 12V cordless power tools, which you can find at Lowe’s but not Home Depot. They also have a battery alliance called AmpShare.
How many Bosch cordless power tools did you see in Lowe’s stores for the 2025 holiday deals season? Black Friday? How many AmpShare tools can you find at Lowe’s?
Here are two big questions: would Makita tools bring more shoppers to Lowe’s, and would Lowe’s availability help foster sales and growth for Makita?
I thought of this – what if Makita went to Lowe’s and Flex to Home Depot. It seemed like it could be an interesting turn of events, but let’s look at the facts.
Has Flex brought customers to Lowe’s? Yes, I think so, but perhaps not enough for the retailer to keep them around.
Dewalt’s Xtreme 12V Max cordless power tool system hasn’t sold well enough to justify expansion. A Craftsman V12 cordless power tool system, with its existence hinted on every V20 charger, has yet to materialize, presumably because Lowe’s wasn’t interested and there’s not enough of a market otherwise.
Home Depot and Lowe’s have different ways of doing things.
Makita’s visibility at Home Depot stores is not what it used to be, but they’re still there, and they’re still well-featured. Some people do still go to Home Depot stores for Makita power tools, accessories, and now MakTrak tool boxes.
It wouldn’t be a good fit, for Makita to go to Lowe’s, and I really don’t see that happening.
As for Flex potentially going to Home Depot stores, I’d say there’s not a chance of that happening. If anything, maybe there’d be room for Bosch, either under their own label or under Diablo, but I don’t think that’s very likely either.
Saulac
Is it a bit concerning to know how brands depended only a few huge stores for their survival? Also is it really just Depot vs Lowe’s? Is Mernar or something is pretty big in part of the country?
TomD
Menards is big in the Midwest but they mainly run master craft and some Bosch; as a more budget retailer I doubt they want to go into major deals with companies.
I’d say Flex should rebrand as Ego Hand Tools or something if they want to shine.
Katie
I got my Skil 10″ job site saw at Menard’s. It was the lowest price I’d seen after looking at it for some months. Same price as Amazon’s reduced price, but I got an 11% cash back deal with it. Ended up being around $250 with the cash back deal (actually a coupon for Menards). Still haven’t seen a deal to beat it. I also like that Menard’s has the best woodworking section in their store. I once got a great deal on Knipex pliers there. Also, their electrical section has better quality products, etc., ones that the pros around here use.
I’m not a fan of Mastercraft, never got their tools, but they do have some good merch.
CMF
Is Mastercarft the correct name for Menard’s in house brand? If yes, does anyone know if it is the same Mastercraft Canadian Tire has?
kenny H
it’s Masterforce at Menards.
Mark
Menards house tool brand is already owned by the owner if EGO and Flex. They also sell Skil. It would be a great place to sell as a pro level tool at Menards as the only other pro level brands they now carry are Bosch and Metabo. Flex would be great there, but Menards doesn’t really rely on tool sales to keep them open, this could be an added boost if they didn’t want all the other Chervon brands cutting it one another’s profit margins
Billy
Manards has Masterforce* bosch and skil, worx, performax, toolshop, and matabohpt
Robert
Menards is big in the Mid-West. The stores I’ve been in are huge, as though a HD/Lowes married a Walmart. Big box tools volume, etc, but also a a grocery section, some times clothing, and more. Lumber selection was impressive and much cleaner.
MM
Menard’s has ~340 stores. Northern Tool has ~140. Tractor Supply has over 2400 locations.
Bonnie
Might just be my locations, but the power tool selection at Tractor Supply is abysmal, and everything is tucked way in the back and coated in dust. Plus side, they still have a 9.6v Makita stick battery from the Clinton administration in the case /s. The Wilco (aka Farmstore) selection of DeWalt and Stihl is much better, and seems to actually move stock.
JoelLikestools
Menards is non existent where I live. I know at one point I saw that the large majority of TTIs (Milwaukee, Ryobi etc) profits were just based on Home Depot.
I think the other big Player is Amazon, but aside from some of the same brands as Lowes people mostly want to buy garbage there.
Quahog
Makita will never compete with ketchup and mustard until they get their battery reliably up. A carpenters that works for me who uses makita has had multiple failed batteries within a couple years of buying them. My Milwaukee and Dewalt batteries still working after 10+ years of heavy use building and renovating. I bought him a Milwaukee kit. He’s never going back. Sad because the tools themselves are great.
Sinclaire
I get that stories about brands’ reliability or lack thereof is almost entirely anecdotal but I would say a huge number of people think Makita batteries are the most reliable/longest lasting
Matt
Sounds like your carpenter bought counterfeit makita batteries, crazy as it sounds you can buy counterfeit makita 6ah batteries that look *almost* identical, in authentic looking packaging, makita japan put info out on it.
I would suspect that the 6ah makita batteries available on ebay for $70-$90 are counterfeit
Quahog
Not counterfeit. Multiple issues with multiple people I’ve worked with. It’s a bummer. Glad to hear they are working for others though. Would be a shame if makita can’t get its act together.
CMF
You are the exception rather than the rule. I have rarely heard issues with Makita batteries, except their 6ah LXT, all other last, and last long.
I have heard of Milwaukee having battery issues, with more than one model. Torque Test Channel often mentions the Milwaukee’s have had issues.
I have not heard anything specifically bad with Dewalt. My own personnel use, I have had issues with some Milwaukee, a couple of Ryobi, 2 Ridgid and 1 Flex. I have had 4 Makita batteries go dead on me but 3 were 3rd party copies I tried, the 1 genuine Makita battery, I had was marked Nov 2010 for purchase date.
Overall, I like the Makita batteries (I have about 30). I tried some 3rd party to see if they hold up, and some are ok, but to much hit and miss. I get the genuine article only now.
I have some 2008 Makita’s and they work in any tool I put it in, but I do feel they are not lasting as long as newer ones
Bonnie
Anecdotally, everything I’ve heard is the exact opposite. The landscapers and surveyors in my circle in particular love them and have some heavily beatup battery chainsaws still going strong on the original batteries.
Sinclaire
Yep same with myself and the other carpenters I work with
Rog
Makita batteries are some of the best in the biz, they’re not the newest or flashiest tech, but they just work.
James
In the last 9 years I’ve had 1 Makita battery die (a month after being dropped off a 2nd story roof) out of 28 that I own. In the same time I’ve had 4 Milwaukee M18 batteries die (out of 23) and 3 Dewalt 20V batteries die (out of 15).
A.J.
I own primarily Makita and Milwaukee power tools. Never an issue with my Makita batteries. However my Milwaukee batteries will sometimes go into a fault mode and not charge. Well twice that happened.
A.J.
That’s not my experience with Makita batteries. Mine have lasted a very long time and I have quite a few. May I ask where he purchased his batteries? Stay away from Amazon, Ebay and places like that. There are a lot of counterfeit tools and batteries on there, yes even Amazon.
Luis
The batteries that have failed me the most are Ketchup and Lime. They are both TTI brands, coincidence?
Makita batteries are old but reliable for the most part
Matt_T
Strange a commenter who’s name I don’t recognize would show up and claim the opposite of reality. Well what’s really strange is they’re also pushing Dewalt…….
Stuart
They’re a long-time commentor with different name.
Different people can have very different experiences. That doesn’t make anything “the opposite of reality.”
DRT42
I have to disagree. Makita batteries are very reliable.
Evolve007
Yes, I my HVACR experience Makita was very reliable. Even more so than fellow techs against their Milwaukee’s. However this is based on poor charging technics, as we were always in rush on and between jobs no time to charge. I’m ashamed to say, but used my batteries on my LXT impact as hammers, and dropped of roofs. Broke several battery cases yet they still worked fine. We also worked on commercial cooking equipment. Tools would be covered in cooking grease and oils. Working in -10deg (walk in freezers) through 130deg (roofs). Only Makita, Milwaukee, and Dewalt (iffy, depends). Would hold up to our work
Beto
I heard that Home Depot will only be selling Makita’s 18-volt platform. Perhaps Lowe’s will sell Makita’s 40-volt platform.
Rog
I would not like this, Lowes will treat them worse. Though I do wish HD would give Makita more attention. In my ideal they drop Ridgid and give Makita that space and marketing attention, positioning them as their more “premium” offering
Torite
Home Depot own Rigid, a very well designed product, so they will never drop
them.
Rog
Incorrect, TTI owns Ridgid’s power tools license. HD is only an exclusive retailer.
Daniel
Ron is Correct….
Ridgid is a subsidiary of Emerson Electric and Ridgid power tools are made by TTI under license from Ridgid and sold almost exclusively at The Home Depot.
I am Team Red and Team Orange.
Jason
Neither Rigid or Ridgid are owned by Home Depot.
fred
I think that the confusion exits because the Ridgid brand name is owned by Emerson Electric – but licensed to others for different categories of tools. For example, TTI applies the Ridgid brand name (under license) to small electric power tools sold mostly at Home Depot. Ridgid tablesaws and vacuums, however, might be manufactured by Emerson. Ridgid pipe wrenches are manufactured by the Ridge Tool Company – a subsidiary of Emerson.
Home Depot also seems to have a license to have tools manufactured for them and brand them “Ridgid”. This seems to only apply to categories of tools that do not compete with Emerson’s plumbing tools, vacuums etc. So, a shovel or extension cord sold at Home Depot under the Ridgid brand name can come from separate OEMs that have no connection to either Emerson or TTI – other than using the Ridgid name under license.
This has been said to have all come about then Sears phased out using Emerson as the OEM for many stationary power tools sold under the Craftsman name. As that was happening, Emerson apparently decided that Home Depot was the rising star and worked out both supply and licensing deals with them.
defaultdotxbe
I think further confusion stems from the orange color, matching the Home Depot logo, the same way Kobalt matches the Lowes logo and MasterForce matches Menards.
Scott K
I wonder if the fairly recent sale of True Value to Do It Best opens the door for partnerships or other changes. I’ve also noticed more advertising from Ace, “Home Services” trucks on the road, and the addition of Stihl tools.
Robm
Flex will be sold online through Lowe’s, and will remain on the floor in certain locations/ markets. The same will be said for Skil power tools through Lowe’s. Stores will begin to shift in the near future to reflect what brands they sell well and do not sell well per location and or region. Stores will start to get a little more power to have the inventory that sells in that stores location. This will apply to more than just tools as well.
AP
I’m guessing Makita and Bosch have a tough go of it in North America. I’ve seen where Flex wants to do online sales only of more compact tools too. How long until tool brands team up to survive like streaming services are doing? That’s a bit of a half joke.
TomD
I don’t see online sales being a major option for a brand that’s not present at retail; nobody is going to buy an unknown power tool and wait days for it to arrive when HD has stuff on the shelves.
AP
I don’t see it either but that’s what I understand they’re going to do or at least try to do.
David
I mostly buy Flex, Bosch and Metabo HPT on Amazon. Almost everything I can get on my doorstep by morning, and not have to deal with the half hour process that is getting a tool out of lockup at Lowe’s. Also their selection always sucked anyways. All their Bosch tools are old or entry level models. Same with Metabo HPT. It took my store almost a year to get the new triple hammer in after it was released in the US.
AP
I get a ton of stuff online. HD isn’t close but I order and have it delivered and it’s the same with Amazon. Lowe’s is pretty close but I’ll still order online and pick it up. It’s handy knowing how many are available too instead of traveling to the store and hoping it’s in stock.
Luis
team up? Makita and Bosch are huge out of North America. This is not representative of their marketshare as a whole. They are doing more than ok elsewhere.
The ironic thing is Ketchup and Mustard are like GM and Ford, huge in North America but a 2nd tier player elsewhere. They would probably need more teaming up worldwide than the other two brands.
Rob K
I wonder if Chervon has decided to concentrate on tool manufacturing and leaving the marketing to others. Maybe it’s more profitable to just make tools for other brands. Manufacturing and marketing are very different disciplines, and being good at one doesn’t make you good at the other.
Harrison
Yeah. Trying to introduce Flex as a pro brand out of thin air in North America was a boneheaded move. Lowe’s exclusive (temporary or not) was also a fatal error. They should have branded them Skil Professional or something and launched at pro tool retailers first- Then negotiated a big box partnership.
The tools seem great, I just can’t think of a single reason to buy them.
Luis
Tradesmen are just too loyal to their favorite tool brand. Probably more than Full Size truck buyers as they all take the same fuel and off the shelf oil. Tools on the other hand…
Patrick Johnson
All I’m hearing is nothing more than speculation. Here is a fact. Some Lowe’s locations carry Bosch SDSMax and Profactor. Some locations carry Metabo. We also know some locations are not having a Flex clearance, so it seems logical for Flex to be in some locations and not others.
Vards Uzvards
There is no sign of Flex clearance sales in our local store. But whenever there are online sales at ridiculous prices – 2.5 Ah starter kit + free tool for $79, or just the same “bare” starter kit for $49 – they do a local delivery, from the same store, or the one next to it (additional 2-3 miles).
PW
I hadn’t heard that Chervon was one the one to initiate the HD/EGO divorce. That’s a decision that’s aging like curdled milk. I really don’t know why brands seem so eager to rush into the Lowe’s kill zone. I have to assume some ill advised executive junkets must be part of the puzzle, because it never goes well.
David
They didn’t want into Lowes nessesarily, they wanted to sell on Amazon, and other retailers. I don’t think being restricted to just HD was good for them either.
Mark S
I don’t think Flex is staying at Lowe’s in any capacity. I saw here and in store and elsewhere the bare bones pricing. Thought about a steeply discounted drill kit but waited on it. All gone. Just did a quick search online in both my local Lowe’s and one 90 miles from here. Both have barely anything. A few stragglers that aren’t discounted but that’s it. Almost all of the many things they used to sell are no longer available. Light, band saw, grinder, among others sold out. What a fantastic marketing blunder.
I also wonder what the “black ooze battery ” situation did for their credibility…my honest opinion is I dont think it was that widely reported on or noticed by the novice DIY market. But who knows.
MM
I think the old leaky batteries was one of the underlying reasons behind Lowes shifting their inventory to the more compact tools a couple of years ago. Part of the goal was to get rid of inventory which could have had that issue. It certainly wasn’t a good thing, but on the other hand I don’t think it was a huge problem either. The leaky stuff was a rubber thermal compound, not contents of the cells themselves. It was messy but it wasn’t dangerous and Flex replaced the batteries under warranty.
In my opinion the biggest problem with Flex was simply the lack of good promotions. The tools are great. I was actively looking for a good opportunity to buy into Flex for years….but it never came until Lowe’s started clearing out the brand recently. It’s always been easy to find deals on Milwaukee and Dewalt–at least on the common tools that everybody uses. Flex? The promotions were minimal by comparison. I think they’d have done much better had they had better promos for Black Friday, Father’s Day, and so on. Two years ago–right around the time of the black goo debacle–was the previous time I was closest to buying into Flex. I had planned for it, and budgeted for it. I ended up delaying my purchases because Milwaukee and Dewalt had better Black Friday deals. I changed my plans to buy a few Flex tools the following January, after the holidays were past but Lowe’s sale was still running….but that fell through when Lowes decided to end that sale early. Had that gone differently I would have bought into Flex back then if not before, and having done so I likely would have bought more tools and batteries in the time since.
I don’t know how the business side of thing works, whether to blame Lowe’s or Flex for the lack of good promos, but that is where I feel the real blame lies. But like I wrote in a previous topic, a silver lining for Flex is now a lot of new customers are on the platform, having taken advantage of Lowe’s clearance. And many of those customers, impressed with their new tools, are going to be looking for more tools and more batteries going forward.
Toolfool97
I really like Flex tools. They are tough and work great . The Lowe’s price was great and the lifetime warranty. How can you go wrong . Hoping for a track saw from them soon.
Luis
I never looked for Flex deals at Lowe’s, but ACME ran several deals on selected tools and I was able to get the Turbo Hammer drill kit with 2 batteries and the 5″ angle grinder kit with 1 battery for $99 each.
That was over a year ago.
MM
They did have some good deals. I remember coming across one at Ohio Power Tool a little over a year ago where if you bought the 6ah Stacked Lithium starter kit you got a free tool from a very extensive list, including things like the full-size bandsaw. Alas I hesitated and missed it. Flex did have deals, they just weren’t as widespread or well advertised as the others.
Sinclaire
I think Lowe’s made an error simply by having too many homeowner/DIY grade cordless brands. Kobalt, Craftsman, Skil and maybe to an extent Flex. I know that Flex puts up pro grade numbers l in performance tests but I’ve never once seen a Flex tool on a job site and I think the brand awareness among tradespeople is pretty much nonexistent.
Metabo HPT suffers from this to an extent but I think they have much stronger brand awareness from their pneumatic nailers alone. Plus a longer, more proven track record than Flex.
Rather than bringing in a new brand I could see them expanding their shelf space for Bosch (makes sense alongside their recent US marketing effort) and MAYBE MHPT if they decide to get serious about gaining traction in the US market. Less brands at Lowe’s might help that.
Then you’d have Dewalt, MHPT, and Bosch for pro grade at Lowe’s alongside Kobalt and Craftsman for homeowner/diy stuff. Compared to Dewalt, Milwaukee, Makita, Ridgid for pros at Home Depot alongside Ryobi for homeowner/diy/
Clay
An interesting thing to note is most of HD’s rental tools are Makita, if Makita makes it. At least here.
A friend with a small construction company says he prefers Makita as they can be serviced more easily? I have no other information on that statement, but found it interesting.
I have also found it odd that HD carries Bosch but only corded tools, like SDS Rotary Hammers, Miter Saws, and the like.
Sinclaire
Makita sells replacement parts for basically everything they make, something that other brands just don’t do. Milwaukee is particularly bad about making their stuff virtually unrepairable
Clay
I wondered if that was why HD used them for rentals.
LE
I’d honestly pretty happy if Makita did go to Lowe’s, even though they won’t. They’d have Makita, Bosch, Metabo HPT, Dewalt, and Kobalt. All the brands I care about. Really would have no reason to ever go to Home Depot anymore except Diablo and Empire, both of which I can get from Northern Tool instead.
ElectroAtletico
Tractor Supply’s customers are some of the most loyal purchasers that there are in the USA. Makita (and EGO) would be well-served exploring a nice relationship with them.
Scottie
I keep wondering if Walmart is gearing up to change their power tool strategy. For a few years there it seemed like HART was going to take over and was extensive. Almost the same range of tools as Ryobi, just white and one year older. But then out of nowhere Hyper Tough started to take over the shelves for both power and hand tools. The Hyper Tough impact wrenches score very well on Torque Test Channel and are rumored to be built by Chervon.
But, HART is still going strong at Walmart for the 40V OPE line, so I don’t think the relationship is broken. Is there room at Walmart for a Pro line needing a home like Flex? I go back and forth, but probably not.
A.J.
I buy Makita and Milwaukee power tools. I noticed Home Depot staff are a lot friendlier and more helpful than Lowes staff, at least at my location. I actually enjoy going into HD whereas not si much the other. I hope Makita stays with HD.
CMF
Is Ego also staying with Lowes , and the various smaller chains they are now in?
Ego and Flex would be a great marriage as neither has each others products, and both made by Chervon. My guess is that Ego does much better than Flex, but Flex has enough of a following that neither should change name. Maybe under the name on the tool have a smaller “by ________” a good marketing name (not Chervon, nobody knows them and not a “sexy” name…Flego!) that ties the 2, without confusing people like Metabo HPT. Chervon should also marketing them together when signing contracts with and retailers like Lowes and others.
If it were true that Ego would go back to HD, what if the deal was, Ego & Flex or nothing!
Makita, I have always found them different than most companies and probably would not care for Lowes games. But corporations are all greedy and maybe the would go.
I wonder if anything was going on in talks between Makita and Lowes, would the final say be Makita US or does it go to Makita Japan? (being that Lowes would be considered a big contract)
D. Wade
Recently moved from the Midwest to the east Coast. I have shopped all three; Menard’s, HD, and Lowe’s for decades. I miss Menard’s like a pain. Hands down, head and shoulders superior in every regard as a retailer. Selection, quality of offering, store layout, and value. Of course I would have suggestions for improvement, but have only HD and Lowe’s in my state and sincerely mourn what I took for granted. HD and Lowe’s would do well to study and emulate their superior competitor. Menard’s would do well to expand and kick ass.
Noah
Honestly speaking, Milwaukee and Makita are literally the only reason I will even step foot in a Home Depot store. So I would welcome Lowe’s bringing in Makita but from a practical standpoint the move wouldn’t make sense.
Donny
Who is buying tools at Lowe’s? Lowe’s refuses for whatever reason to match Amazon on price. I’ll pay a little more to have it today but $50 or more. Lowe’s is in serious trouble IMO. At least Home Depot on most things seems to be matching Amazon and will ship it free if you want that option. My local Lowe’s even let a harbor freight be built in their parking lot!