Every year, I work through all of the holiday tool deals and promotions. I scout them out, sort through everything, and analyze and organize the best ones.
I like to save money on the tools and supplies I’m looking to buy, and I also enjoy sharing my findings with readers.
In repeating this process every year, Black Friday and Holiday season tool deal trends and patterns tend to appear.
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From what I have seen, Makita USA has far fewer holiday promotions this year, overall and in highly competitive product categories.
Some of the offerings that are available at Home Depot and other tool dealers are also less compelling than similar promotions one year ago.
Last year, Makita had an 18V X2 cordless circular saw for $199, and it came with 2 bonus batteries. This year, it’s priced at $399 with no freebies. Their rear-handle saw kit was $259 and also came with bonus batteries. This year the same deal is $299.
Last year, their XGT 2-tool cordless power tool combo kit was $449 and bundled with 2 free batteries. This year it’s $469 and you get 1 free battery. Earlier this year the same combo kit was $349 with 1 free battery.
$469 for what was $349 a few months ago?
For the first time I can recall, there are no deals on Makita’s 18V X2 cordless track saw, or their XGT 36V version.
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I could not find any Makita 18V cordless drill or impact driver deals this year, at least not at the traditional holiday season “special buy” $99 price point. While it might not seem like a big deal, these can be considered gateway tools to cordless power tool brands’ platforms.
While Makita’s $99 promo drill and impact kits didn’t always have the best specs, the inclusion of a 3Ah battery made them good values, especially when compared against competing kits with 1.3Ah batteries.
Makita USA laid off more than 200 people earlier this year, following a series of price hikes and a fiscal year loss reported for their North America business segment.
A new CEO and President is in place, presumably to help turn things around.
All of this – the dearth of holiday deals, the layoffs, and the change in top leadership – are individually concerning. When combined, the picture it paints suggests that Makita USA is facing hard times.
Makita recently filed a new financial report.
For context, these tables show Makita’s segment performance for the 12 months ending on 3/31 for both 2022 and 2023.
Converted from Japanese Yen to USD at today’s conversion rate, Makita North America earned a $5.35 million profit in 2022, and reported a $6.08 million loss in 2023.
For the 6 months ending 9/30 in 2022, Makita’s North America reported a profit of $2.74 million, also using today’s conversion rate for simplicity.
For the 6-months ending 9/30 in 2023, Makita’s North America segment reported a loss of $23.15 million.
These numbers also show that sales are down, with similar being true across the industry.
However, Stanley Black & Decker and TTI (Milwaukee’s parent company) have reported operating profits in their latest filings.
Makita USA has been promoting their holiday savings, but in my opinion their too-few “season’s best offers” are not very compelling.
As mentioned, their flagship 40V Max/36V XGT cordless combo kit was $449 with 2 free batteries in late 2022, then $349 with 1 free battery in early 2023, and is now advertised as one of their “season’s best” Black Friday offers at $469 with 1 free battery.
Here’s the difficult part. What if Makita USA has cut back on holiday sales and promotions to curtail spending? This would reduce operating costs, but I would think it will also absolutely hurt short and long-term sales.
I recently posted about how I don’t think Makita can afford to launch the Packout-like tool box system that is discussed in recent patent applications.
Makita North America segment sales are down and losses are up compared to the same period as last year.
Can they afford to save money by skipping out on a lot of holiday season promotions this year?
Maybe Outdoor Adventure will put some money back into Makita USA’s pocket?
I spotted Makita’s olive green Outdoor Adventure cordless vacuum at the Web Restaurant Store, an online restaurant supply shop, but have not seen any of these tools at Home Depot stores yet – or even their website.
Makita’s USA business can get through this and emerge stronger. Right? They just need to sell more tools.
I have taken advantage of Makita holiday deals on cordless power tools and accessories in the past, but don’t see anything compelling enough to pry a penny from my pocket this year.
Hopefully they have a plan to boost sales through the end of the holiday season and into 2024.
Hon Cho
Interpreting Makita’s earnings requires a look and understanding of exchange rates and what makes up the “inter-segment” revenues. Of course, Makita could do better in N. America where competition is fiece but I don’t think they’re in a such a deep hole they can’t climb out of it. Plus, competing on price is usually a race to the bottom.
Stuart
Perhaps, but it’s widely accepted that profits are good and losses are bad.
Whether they’re in such a deep hole they can’t climb out of depends on who you talk to.
I don’t think they’re in a hopeless situation, but they’re also not in a situation that will fix itself.
The question is how much of their troubles come from external factors that competitors have also been facing, and what’s due to bad leadership and poor decisions.
I was recently told that Makita gutted their sales force, but have not seen any evidence of this. Their recent layoffs did include sales and marketing jobs, among others, and that will surely present an added challenge.
Chris Miller
Toolnut has the 4 battery circular saw deal still.
Stuart
Most Makita dealers have the same deal, and it’s $299 compared to $259 last year. The other is $399 compared to last year’s price of $199, and doesn’t come with any bonus batteries.
Jimbo
I just saw a 2 18v 5ah battery with charger package with a free choice of tool (I chose the circular saw) for $199. That’s is a deal.
Prices are going up everywhere. I heard a meal at McDonald’s is $12-$16 now.
The value of the US dollar needs to be considered.
A 6m loss has got to sting. I see a lot of crews switching to Milwaukee and Dewalt.
fred
If the new management can’t turn things around, I wonder If Makita might consider withdrawing from the North American market – or at least in part. They already seem to offer fewer tools (probably for various reasons) here than they do in other markets. Year over year losses are not sustainable for very long unless they see a path forward. If NA only represents about 10% of their corporate revenue – while unlikely – they could ultimately decide to walk away and concentrate on home and Asian markets that seem more profitable.
Eliot Truelove
I wonder if they are operating at a loss due to the expansion they’ve made in the past few years.
The New President Press release stated:
Okada’s arrival follows significant Makita expansion and growth in the United States. In the past five years Makita has constructed over 1-million square feet of distribution, warehouse, and service space as well as dedicated training centers in three new state-of-the-art facilities in Reno, NV, Wilmer, TX, and Flowery Branch, GA. The new distribution network is designed to best serve dealer partners and end users across the United States.
That can’t be cheap, and I wonder if everything came to a head this year, furloughed and delayed somehow, or if all the “state of the art” purchases happened earlier this year and put them temporarily in the red. The aquiring of manufacturing equipment and making the three facilities state of the art is realistically a one time up front cost, and then I could imagine it makes money from there on out.
I’m reminded of that article back in February where Stu mentioned Milwaukee having acquired that old GM plant in Mississippi only to have them slowly phase it out and shut it down and shift direction to the new facility 100 miles away.
It may be Makita figured they should avoid that and try and future proof themselves right out of the gate, at great initial cost on this years financials. It may also be the price hike in America was a temporary measure to offset those costs and that the prices will drop significantly in the future now that everything is mostly up and running.
This is all pure conjecture and speculation on my part, and I’m just a lowly self employed contractor, but in my head I feel that if you take all the losses all at once, it’s only wins from their on out.
Stuart
This isn’t an acute situation; they’ve had slim profits and losses for a couple of years, excluding the outlier first year following the pandemic lockdowns.
I think external headwinds are just exacerbating things. Other companies are facing the same market conditions but continue to report profits. Competing companies had to make focused cuts. Makita USA is the only one I’ve seen that resorted to company-wide layoffs.
John T
This is really interesting. Will you do one of these for other companies as well? I’m especially interested in Milwaukee and Toughbuilt.
Stuart
I typically cover financial news once Q4 and year-end figures are posted, or as in this case when there’s contextual relevance.
CMF
You realize that many public companies do not follow a Jan to Dec calendar. For instance, the company I work for the fiscal year is May 1 to April 30.
Stuart
As mentioned in the post, Makita’s fiscal year ends on March 31st. That’s why their period ending 9/30 reflects the first half of their 2024 discal year.
What point are you trying to make?
CMF
John T said he found it interesting and if you would do it for other companies. You said that you only do it once Q4 or year end numbers are disclosed. In theory, that could be any and every month depending the company…that’s all.
Stuart
Ah, got it.
Most companies’ fiscal years match up perfectly. Discussing any one company’s financials is relatively boring unless there’s context – either external, such as when comparing between companies, or internally, such as here. Even when there’s a 6-month misalignment, it’s close enough for our purposes. Nobody comes here for investment insights.
A couple of new commentors kept focusing on ToughBuilt stock in every single post recently, leading me to question other new or unfamiliar commentors’ motives about the matter.
Milwaukee’s parent company was also hit by a sensational and cryptic short seller report a few months ago.
We can examine financials when they’re relevant, or every once in a while.
Josh Walters
I’ve been hoping for a deal on the XGT 10 1/4 beam saw, oh well maybe dewalt will come out with one on the flexvolt platform
fred
Acme is doing a tiered Makita sale – $45 off the XGT 10-1/4 saw kit
https://www.acmetools.com/search?pmid=23b159_makita_tier
Stuart
On some of these tools the discount barely covers just the last price increase.
fred
Yep – kind of paltry – especially if your purchase does not exactly hit one of the 15% off sweet spots.
Steve
I’ve had the feeling Makita and Bosch have been phoning it in here in North America for years. Without lots of new tools, great promos, and minimal presence in the major retailers, both these companies have been dwindling in the market. They’re just not playing to win in NA. They’re not bad brands but I’m glad I didn’t invest in their lines, there’s just no reason to. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a pull out soon, more likely from Makita.
Eric E Smith
If Makita wants to increase sales numbers and profits they will have to produce products that are of higher performance than their competitors.
IF, Makita tools cut faster, last longer, feal better in hand, and are more reliable than Milwaukee and DeWalt, Makita will be able to sell product at premium price over the competition.
LK
“cut faster, last longer, feal better in hand”
I’ve got good news then because a lot of folks would argue they’re already doing the latter two of these.
MM
I don’t think Makita has a problem with quality or performance, most of their tools are excellent in that regard and they have a good reputation. The issues I see people bring up the most are price, marketing (or more specifically, the lack thereof), and frustration regarding their battery systems.
Tyrone
Makita’s offering is hard to stick to Makita. They only offer the basics they offer the best in the basics but just basic. You want a pex expander nope, a light sure if you like to have something that came out of the 90s, wire stripper sorry go yellow or red. They have enjoyed the best drills and ridden that but have forgotten to look at what would cause me to jump platforms. Not to mention the possibility of dropping the lxt line
LK
It begs the question if Makita is performing any R&D here in the US? I imagine not, based on the lack of a Pex expander like you mentioned. If Makita is mostly focused on “building technique/material selection germane to EU/JP” and they don’t use Pex over there like we do, then I doubt a tool will ever be produced for it that’ll work over here. This would obviously be a bigger problem if the NA/rest of world continue to diverge in construction techniques.
Harrison
PEX started in Europe before coming to North America.
They have a patent for a PEX expander! (Who knows when that will hit production though.)
TZ
I just don’t feel like Makita has anything to offer that the competition doesn’t have. I own exactly one Makita tool, and that’s their 18v X2 Track Saw. They were first (and only one for a long time) to US market with a good cordless track saw, and I needed a track saw. I bought the kit for the saw.
Fast forward a whole lot of years, and there was no other tool they came out with that was appealing enough for me to even consider buying even though I already have their battery system. I’ve bought a handful of other tools since then, but not once did I consider another Makita. They’re just too expensive, and not convincingly better in any way.
HomerBucket
From a ground level merchandising perspective Makita is MIA, Milwaukee is expanding across markets like wildfire, Ryobi is still strong in the DIY segment, DeWalt has a strong and loyal following, and Rigid seems to be coasting. TTI has enough revenue to justify in store reps doing the bulk of their merchandising work while still paying for big seasonal sets. Just look at the laydown section of the holiday gift center! They’ve even massively expanded their in store tool offerings in lower volume stores partly by taking over premium space that used to belong to Makita and DeWalt.
Michael F
Makita is being out-competed by Milwaukee, period. They aren’t moving fast enough, aren’t marketing correctly for western markets, and are making decisions that will lead to sales in western markets. Milwaukees batteries might be worked way too hard by their tools (my Milwaukee battery failure rate is abysmal, especially when worked in the Texas heat) but they have invested in new battery tech and marketing that new tech effectively. On the other hand, LXT is still running the same 18650 cells in the same 5×1 and 5×2 formats as they have been for years and while the new XGT “F” 4.0 battery is the first that I know to be released with tabless 21700 cells Makita didn’t market it at all! That might work in Asian and European markets but for better or worse the NA market expects technological advances like that to be called out.
If Makita NA wants to turn things around they’re going to need to make some tough decisions. They probably need to figure out whether they want to utilize pouch cells to revitalize the LXT line or produce 25% more compact batteries for the XGT line and then start to push one or the other in the trades with trade focused tools. If they don’t want to go that direction the only strategy remaining is to continue to increase prices, focus on carpentry and fine woodworking, and hope (pray) they can move towards the Festool “quality” segment. Heck, their prices aren’t even that far off already. Either way it’s going to be an uphill battle for Makita.
Harrison
Yup. At some point they need to make a real decision regarding XGT vs LXT. If they are going to keep them both, (they probably have no choice) how do they differentiate them? As a tradesperson I have no issues with the differences, and I’m grateful they took the opportunity to jump to 40v for high demand tools. But it still creates a confusing multi-tier dynamic without an upgrade path, and alienated legacy LXT users.
Keeping 5-6 battery platforms for every purpose and consumer demographic might fly in Japan where folks are content to settle for the most ‘appropriate’ and ‘optimized’ product for their needs, but that just isn’t how it works in North America.
Here everyone wants ‘T H E B E S T’ even if they don’t need it, or the product they buy actually isn’t. They just want a reason to believe it is, and any marketing or product segmentation that can provide that experience (as attainably as possible) has a good chance of being successful.
Not every tool Milwaukee makes is a winner. Many of their drill kits, saws, and general purpose tools (even some Fuel products) are quite average. It’s really only their trade-focused tools that are market leading, yet they are all M18- the most powerful 18V system. Their ‘weak’ tools are moved to M12 where they can be marketed as ‘the Best’ within that category.
Flagships sell entry level products, as long as there is some tangible link. M12 and M18 have no interoperability, but almost every M18 tool kit comes with a dual charger, and that is a subtle but serious foot in the door.
End of the day, Milwaukee’s success in North America has probably been at the expense of Makita- the weakest of the ‘big three’, Bosch, and other smaller players. While it’s seriously impressive what they have accomplished, anyone cheering for Makita’s demise should realize the tool industry will become stagnant and less competitive if that were to happen. Hopefully Makita can right the ship.
Michael F
I really like my Makita tools so I’m definitely hoping they can compete harder in the coming years with new leadership. I’m actually in the process of selling off my extensive Milwaukee tool collection and replacing it with Makita. For me, personally, the tools just chewed through one too many batteries to where I said enough was enough. I can appreciate that Milwaukee usually comes out on top in power tests but I’ve started to believe they do so at the expense of battery health. Makita batteries have their own issues, but I’ve yet to have a single one just refuse to take a charge immediately after I pulled it off a tool.
Stuart
A Makita shill tried to argue that the new leadership wasn’t brought in to right the ship, but to “gain experience” here before they move on to other Makita corporate roles. It’s unclear how long their stint here will be.
My worry is that Makita USA is cutting too deeply to save money and is setting themselves up for long-term hardships.
The types of jobs that were lost this summer didn’t seem redundant – many of the laid-off workers were in sales, support, and service roles.
How does a company drive sales – which they desperately need – by cutting back on holiday season promos?
I’m hoping that they have some slick strategies up their sleeves.
Michael F
Their strategies thus far do seem to be head scratchers. I’m not really sure anyone knows what they’re doing at this point. Worst case scenario they brought in the new leadership to oversee a withdrawal from NA markets? That would be a huge disappointment.
Jason Lester
They lost me when they made their newer 18V batteries/tools incompatible with their older ones. I sold all my Makita stuff and switched to Milwaukee.
Munklepunk
They are compatible, all you need is ten seconds and utility knife. They changed internal battery safely design so they made it a wink wink nudge nudge, cya, they aren’t interchangeable design.
We modified all ours to work and used them until the batteries or tool died, that tool awhile because it’s Makita. By now, not a single one of those old batteries should still be in use, for years.
fred
Isn’t there some risk (like losing overheat protection) associated with shoving the newer style batteries into an older modified tool?
Munklepunk
Yeah, but it never happened to us and I never read about it actually happening. I know quite a few people who did it with no issues.
If you think about it, battery turnover is quite high in most jobs because they get used so much, not because they are bad quality. So most people were moving on to newer Star tech and getting newer tools, so whole there was crossover, most batteries were going to die out in a few years anyway.
Anton
Consolidated profits are climbing up from 2022 to 2023.
Maybe Makita decided to focus on their home market or Europe? I mean what’s the point of fighting for US market when there are other bigger and more profitable markets for them?
Mark W. Ingalls
Once upon a time, “Dewalt” was an extinct species subsumed by Black and Decker, and Makita (and Porter Cable) were at the top of the power tool hierarchy. B&D proceeded to crossbreed drills with hand mixers and developed such an awful reputation that they had to clone the DNA of DeWalt to revive their power tool brand. The label, “Black and Decker,” shall no more be applied to any retail product outside the kitchen.
Porter Cable DNA was hopelessly diluted broken.
One wonders… Could Makita be absorbed into the Metabo family, and some of its strong traits preserved? Or else maybe it would go the other way and create offspring with WEN?
fred
It has been reported that KKR has been trying to sell off their Metabo brands (Metabo, Metabo-HPT, HiKoki) – but I think it unlikely that Makita would be a buyer. My ex-compatriots in the metal fabrication business are lately despairing of poor service and long lead times for Metabo abrasives.
Ben
Are you speculating if Metabo (i.e. KKR) would buy Makita? Or if Makita would buy the Metabo brand from KKR, or buy Wen? I’m confused.
fred
My take on KKR is that they may have lost some of their enthusiasm for the tool business after reality set in and they saw how profitable (or not) their ownership of the Metabo brands was. I may be wrong, but I don’t think that Makita is likely to be up for sale or that KKR would have an appetite for buying them out – even if they were. I’d also be surprised if Makita would want to take on the debt required to absorb the Metabo brands from KKR at KKR’s asking price.
MT
I was in Home Depot yesterday. Row after row of holiday displays for Milwaukee, for DeWalt, for Ryobi. Makita had one. But at least it stood out in that sea of red, yellow, and green.
MT
Just to clarify: Makita didn’t have one row. They had a single cardboard display unit.
Michael F
I’ve noticed the same. On the one hand, TTI and Home Depot have a relationship that’s a little too close for comfort. On the other, Makita just doesn’t sell like Milwaukee and Ryobi. If they want more floor space they have to move inventory.
CMF
HD is the biggest tool retailer in the US, and also deeply entrenched with TTI. So they are both a good and bad example.
Milwaukee, Ryobi, and Ridgid, will always have floor space. HD will always have an interest in selling, advertising, or promoting the TTI brands. Dewalt, being SBD, is also very large and HD can’t just disregard them, and of course, Dewalt sells quite well.
Makita loses in that they do not move enough inventory to warrant floor space and do not have any kind of special relationship that would justify HD giving them the additional floor space.
Stuart
Makita was also named in a lawsuit, stemming from their own partnership with Home Depot.
https://toolguyd.com/home-depot-milwaukee-and-makita-under-fire-for-anti-competitive-practices/
CMF
This I was not aware of, surprising though.
I never thought Makita had enough market share (in the US) to have a giant like HD sign an exclusivity contract.
Stuart
Makita’s competitors didn’t always have a monstrous advantage in market share.
A few years ago Home Depot had a pro tool influencer-type review sample program, and they frequently included Makita tools that they wanted to promote. At times it seemed like they were throwing more weight behind Makita than other brands.
It has only been the past few holiday seasons where a disparity in holiday gift center promotional floor space became apparent.
Tim D.
Makita USA stinks at marketing.
The 40v / 18v incompatibility was a mistake. Especially after Milwaukee and Dewalt both came out with backwards compatible solutions. How can you be last the last to market with next gen batteries and not learn anything from those who went before you?
The outdoor adventure lineup smells like desperation to me. Are they going to make a “girls” line in pink next?
I hate this, because I like that Makita is not part of a tool conglomerate. I like their tools and their quality.
MM
I think their outdoor adventure line was originally intended for the domestic Japanese market. A few years ago Japan experienced a huge boom in the popularity of camping/glamping and it seems to be ongoing. I’m sure Makita intended to target their market of domestic campers first and foremost, but it’s absolutely not going to make them a lot of money elsewhere.
The situation with the battery tech is rather ironic. Years ago Makita was the leader of pro cordless power tools with their 7.2v Ni-Cd stick pack batteries. But now it seems they’ve been left in the dirt as other companies have embraced newer battery tech like pouch cells, and are doing a better job maintaining backwards compatibility with new higher power systems like Dewalt’s Flexvolt or Metabo HPT’s MultiVolt. In a way it reminds me of how Sears became so successful with the disruptive technology of mail-order only to be done in by their failure to adapt to a newer means of remote shopping, online.
Stuart
The Japanese market already had a big focus on outdoor and lifestyle tools, with many offerings that were never brought to the US in any color option.
Outdoor Adventure looked to be Makita USA’s attempt to drum up interest here.
If they weren’t targeting users outside of the tool and construction space, they should have been. The Web Restaurant Store doesn’t seem like the best outlet for such products, but maybe it’s the only one they could get to carry the line. You can’t even find these tools on Home Depot’s website.
M
I’m pretty sure Web Restaurant Store is just a middleman and everything drop ships from the manufacturer. They just take the manufacturer’s product catalog and list literally everything for sale. I doubt a person was even involved in the process. Makita must have added this to a product database (maybe by mistake), and Web Restaurant Store picked it up and listed it for sale. I’ve found obscure Makita accessories there that no one else has, although I haven’t actually bought anything from them. I prefer to buy from a company that’s actually in the business of selling tools and has actual inventory.
Munklepunk
Hate to tell ya
https://www.ebay.com/itm/354116176215
TonyT
Where’s the Hello Kitty version?
Tim D.
Ha, I hate that you told me as well.
CMF
Stuart, your article is correct in many aspects. But you are also looking at it as as an American and the US market.
If you look at the numbers and eliminate the US market, all of a sudden the numbers look pretty decent.
If you were the CEO of a company selling X number of $$$ worldwide, and profitable worldwide, except one market that is always losing, would you continue pushing on in that market, or simply pull out?
I bit of a rhetorical question, but the US market is a big market and for some companies, very important. I think Makita is maintaining a presence, for the sake of remaining in the consumers consciousness. I believe that Bosch is also in a similar position. They have a great global presence, yet do not have great sales in the US.
Stuart
“The USA is just a tough market” is not a reason, it’s an excuse, and a poor one at that.
There are no do-overs. What remains is the path forward, and whether Makita USA can climb out of the hole they dug. You can try to argue that they didn’t dig the hole themselves and only found themselves in one, but that doesn’t change the nature of what needs to be done.
CMF
“The USA is just a tough market” is not a reason, it’s an excuse.
I am not sure who you are quoting, but I can see a head coach saying this at halftime to his team sulking at being behind.
A sports team can’t pull out, they must continue, and try to improve.
A business can cut their losses and close stores, let go employees, or simply give up and pull out of a market they are not able to succeed in. Sometimes, the shareholders demand this when their are profits everywhere, but one point of failure.
I am not sure they dug the hole they are in or not, but what needs to be done can encompass many different ideas. I can imagine in the boardroom, many will have new ideas on how to proceed, while others would say to cut their losses and get out of town.
I think that is the nature of doing business.
Tony
I love makita but have been lacking on trade Specific tools for example they just came out with a weed wacker water pump nice pump but why a string trimmer pump??? Something with a better design would of been nice…no higher capacity on there 18v was a let down in my opinion
MM
I think the trimmer water pump is a great idea. Drill pumps are a thing but this seems to be a lot more efficient and it’s nice to be able to keep the motor far away from the pump itself so you can lower the pump down in the water while keeping the motor out of it. Makita says that the pump attachment works with all of their power heads so you have many options for powering it: single 18V battery, 36V (2x18V), 40V XGT, and gas.
fred
Definitely an alternative to the several different (Reed, Ryobi, Milwaukee and various clones) “stick: pumps that have hit the market in recent years. Whst I’d love to see is a Milwaukee MX trash pump.
DAVE TOOLTIME
I live in the suburbs outside Milwaukee ( About 3miles from the plant.) I once did a project at the milwaukee tool plant and was asked to leave because I didn’t have all milwaukee tool. Many were Makita. They offered to give me a good deal on tools if I wanted to stay or loan me some. I declined and left.
I have been in construction for 45 years. Ive tried every brand of tool. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BATTERIES !! GETTING INTO A SYSTEM.!!! I would be on the job and open my trailer and say everythings for sale. I would then buy the lastest tech. For the last 25 to 30 years its been Makita. I recieved the nickname Mr Makita and tooltime. I can’t begin to tell you how many people I’ve converted to Makita. Over the last 7 to 10 years Makita has really done a terrible job marketing their brand. Makita displays have gotten smaller or dissappeared. For the last 10 years I’ve worked at a school district and tried to get makita to get involved with the tech ed department. Hook them when their young and you got them for life. (Nothing)!!! One of the parents that worked at Milwaukee power tool got wind of it and Milwaukee dropped off 4 pallets of tools free. Now what tool do you think they will use. Not only did they donate to our district they donated 5 others as well. Many of the schools are upgrading their tech ed departments.
I own almost every Makita tool sold in the USA and duplicates of many. Another trend I’ve noticed is while milwaukee is making more trade specific tools Makita is coming out with a coffee maker or microwave. (Coolers awesome ) Come on! Also I see tools released in other parts of the world but not here.
Getting stingy is not the answer!!
Market to : Middle and High Schools , Tech schools, Construction Trade organizations
Company buying program and their employees.
Loyalty program: they register their tools they get points, they refer people they get points or Makita Kripto.
Come on lets go!!!
Richard meagley
Makita will never relinquish or lose its rightful and just position in tooling. In my humble opinion, as a carpenter of nearly 40 years, makita has never compromised on quality, precision and performance. And that is the mark of true, long term success. Makita is very minimalistic in BS features and those that pay whatever the cost for their tooling, appreciate and value that approach heavily. Makita will always be set apart from the heap. We don’t like cheap.
Also, look at the bigger picture. The markets are unstable is all get-out right now. That inborn instability will usually hold space for junk to shine, while others who hold true to high standards may be found treading water while the tides wax and wain.
As long as makita continues to stick to the guns that success was built on for them, our great grand children will be buying their products.
-Ric The Carpenter
Ct451
Fire the marketing people and let the tools sell themselves is a great strategy to get back to black in NA. There is no point to put more money in this market if the same would generate more in others.
Perry B Berens
I still have a bad taste for Makita from way back battery change making my investment in Makita battery drills obsolete. Makita makes great corded tools. I bought their early battery powered drills. Great tools. Then they switched battery design. My battery tools became obsolete. Ryobi then got my business because of one battery design. Every tool compatible. I have moved into Milwaukee battery tools , for same reason as I liked Makita corded. Milwaukee makes great corded tools. Plus, Milwaukee operates like Ryobi one battery all line of tools. I will never buy another Makita battery product, Milwaukee or Ryobi if they make my investment obsolete by battery non adaptable change. They will never get my business again either. It’s not a deal if tool is discounted out of service for any reason. .