Connecticut news outlet have reported that Stanley Black & Decker is closing a USA manufacturing facility in New Britain, CT.
I have not yet found any official announcements from Stanley Black & Decker.
According to one news channel, Stanley Black & Decker is closing the factory because of “a structural decline in demand for single-sided tape measures.”
Advertisement
An additional statement attributed to a Stanley Black & Decker rep explains that such “products [single-sided tape measures] are quickly becoming obsolete in the markets we serve.”
The closure is said to affect 300 workers.
It is unclear whether Stanley Black & Decker will be discontinuing production of single-sided tape measures, or if they are only closing their USA factory that manufactures this type of product.
From what I have seen SBD has multiple sourcing options for many of their tape measures. Their Stanley PowerLock tape measures, for example, have been produced in the USA and Thailand.
Shown above are imported Stanley tape measures on display at Home Depot from the last holiday deals season.
I saw similar for Stanley FatMax tape measures last year – see Stanley FatMax Tape Measure Deal at Home Depot isn’t USA-Made.
Advertisement
It is also unclear which brands this will impact. I presume it will affect select Stanley, Craftsman, and maybe Dewalt tape measures.
Local government officials issued statements about the closure, saying they will do everything in their power to help support affected workers.
Thank you to Fred for the heads-up!
John
That’s a shame. The basic Stanley tape measures have been my go to for decades. The most consistent tapes as far as I’m concerned.
TomD
It’s pretty obvious to everyone that they could relatively easily retool the tapes to be printed on both sides. There’s more than just “reduced demand”.
Rog
That was my thought too. You’re a global manufacturing company, SBD, you can’t figure out how to retool the factory?? 🤨
Colin
Well my next tape won’t be a Stanley if it isn’t made here.
Kind of a shame, I’ve only used Stanely tapes since I was a kid.
Michael
I take it, they deemed it too expensive for them to retool to be able to print on both sides, or they felt it just made sense to consolidate and make all of their tape measures in Thailand. Either way, I think that is a bad decision to make.
The major reason, I brought Stanley tape measures, is because they were made in the USA and good quality. Other tape measures are also of good quality and this would mean that there would be no reason to go for a Stanley over a Milwaukee or Fastcap, or any of the other brands.
Luckily I was able to find some US made Stanley FatMax 2 pack deals in 2021, so some were out there, but by far there were way more of the made in Thailand 2 packs.
Looks like I might need to pick up a few US made Stanley’s and Craftsman’s while they are still available.
If anyone is interested in quick view of the New Britain factory, they did a video about if for Craftsman’s social media.